Mario's Party Tales
by Child at Heart Forever
Summary: Join Mario and his gang through various adventures based on boards from all his parties! They help solve a dispute between bob-ombs, have fun at a mid-way, travel to Neon Heights, and more! One thing is definitely assured: no tale is the same as another!
1. Act 1, Episode 1

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 1: DK's Jungle Adventure

_Deep, deep in the jungle where Donkey Kong loved to roam…lie ruins full of mystery. Rumor has it that a great relic of an ancient monkey civilization were in those very ruins, kept safe by traps and monsters…and today, DK invited Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi to come and find it._

"All we brought-a was 10 coins each…" Luigi explained, once they reached DK's rendezvous point- a rock smack dab in the middle of the jungle.

"Why would we need coins for an expedition anyway?" Mario asked.

"You can never be too careful!"

Mario nodded; Luigi was right, he supposed. Yoshi turned to DK.

"So do you have any idea how to get to the ruins that you speak of?" Yoshi asked. DK nodded furiously, paused, shook his head, paused, then waved his hand around unsurely. "You kinda know how to get there? Great."

DK picked up a stick in the sand and drew out his explanation. It said they needed to get pass 4 Whomps scattered throughout the jungle, climb onto a cliff, get over a trench, and find a star, which was said to unlock the treasure of the ruins. DK dusted his hands off, proud of his work. Mario studied the map carefully.

"If you're right, then we should-a head northwards first…"

"Onward to treasure!" Yoshi called, beginning to lead the way. "I hope it's something edible! I'd love that!"

DK cheered in agreement. Mario and Luigi exchanged looks.

"What would be the odds of that? An ancient treasure with food doesn't sound very likely…"

Yoshi folded his arms. "Maybe I'm just saying that cuz I'm starving! I forgot to eat before we came!"

Luigi pulled out a sandwich. "I'm good on food! I packed a tasty sandwich that-"

Yoshi snapped out his long sticky tongue and gulped down the sandwich in one bite.

"-is now a part of a dinosaur's balanced breakfast."

Now that Luigi had been downed by his loss of food- it didn't help that Yoshi was purring happily- the trek through the jungle officially began. Vines draped over their heads, wild animals called in the shadows, and Luigi had to ride Yoshi for extra protection, quaking like a leaf. It wasn't long when they came to the first fork in the path: one free, the other blocked by a Whomp. The stone enemy gave a menacing glare to the rag-tag team.

"I s-say we head down the free path…" chattered Luigi.

"But DK said we need to go down the paths Whomps are blocking," Mario pointed out. Yoshi nodded.

"Yeah, he said they're the guards of the treasure!"

"Who cares what he has to say? He's just a gorilla!"

DK made a face.

"Or you're just scared!" teased Yoshi.

"I am not!" Luigi snapped back.

"Then why don't you wanna go down the path were supposed to go down?"

Luigi desperately searched for an answer, the rest of his group giving him quizzical looks.

"Uh, um…I'm just concerned for the Whomp?"

"Oh, move!"

Mario made his way to the Whomp, standing his ground in a firm pose. The Whomp snorted and looked down at him.

"No one passes without paying!" the Whomp roared. He cracked his knuckles loudly, making Mario, DK, and Yoshi cringe while Luigi gulped loudly. "Now pay up!"

Yoshi punched the air while dancing around in a fighting pose. "C'mon! We can take ya! How much do ya want us to pay?"

"10 coins, like anyone ever brings 10 coins into the jungle!" Whomp chuckled.

"We just so happen to have 10 coins, bud!"

The Whomp frowned. "Really!? Darn it! Well, I suppose a deal's a deal…pay up!" Luigi calmed down long enough to slide a glance to Mario, who muttered something as he handed over his cash. The Whomp counted, nodding for each number, then stomped out of the way and blocked the other path.

"Honestly, what's the point of money in a jungle…" the Whomp mused angrily. Mario and Yoshi waved as they headed down the available walkway, DK snickering and Luigi looking all too proud.

"I told you Mario-"

"All I said was that we probably wouldn't need it!" Mario defended. "I never said it wouldn't come in handy."

Luigi stayed quiet, but couldn't wipe the smug look off his face. In fact, he was so full of himself, he jumped off of Yoshi and marched to the front, confidently leading the expedition. Mario rolled his eyes.

"Are you honestly going to let that go to your head?" Mario sighed. Luigi just gave a "Hmph!" instead. He closed his eyes and tromped onward, accidentally stepping into a trap. A twig suddenly snapped under Luigi's foot, but it didn't sound like a normal twig. The green plumber froze, glanced down, and saw he had thrown a hidden switch with his foot. He gulped and grinned sheepishly to his teammates.

"What did you _do_, Luigi?" Yoshi wondered slowly. Faint rumbling in the background answered his question. The rumbling got louder and louder, and DK suggested they should start running. A giant brown boulder rolled down from DK Mountain and started to pursue the group. Luigi let out a blood curling scream and ran for his life.

"RUN! RUN!!!" he wailed. Mario hopped on Yoshi and gave him a small kick.

"No need to tell me twice!"

"Let's go DK!" Yoshi called to the slow member of their group, who was trying his best to swing his legs faster and faster. The boulder started to gain speed, but so did DK. He eventually was just reaching Yoshi's tail, and Luigi was sprinting not too far ahead.

"How are we gonna lose this thing?!" exclaimed Mario frantically.

"Talk about rock and roll…" Yoshi mumbled. DK recognized this part of the forest and quickly motioned for his friends to keep heading straight.

"I don't think that'll be a problem!" Luigi called back, afraid to turn around. DK could sense the boulder gaining on them, but felt relief when he saw the trench. Luigi ran right over the thin wooden plank that crossed it, followed fast by Yoshi and finally DK. The boulder rolled onto the wood, but it couldn't take its weight, and collapsed. Both the wood and the boulder fell into the abyss. Mario, Yoshi, and DK looked over the edge and gulped.

"How are we supposed to get back over?"

DK motioned to the south, trying to say there was a way back down there. Mario managed to decipher the info and informed the rest of the party.

"But we're not going back until after we have that treasure!" Yoshi cried, obviously determined. "Now where's this second Whomp or cliff or whatever this jungle's gonna throw at us next?"

DK looked around intently, even taking the time to sniff the air. Yoshi caught on and started sniffing too. Mario and Luigi sniffed, but could only smell mustaches.

"What're you two sniffing for?"

"DK says Whomps give off a certain scent!" explained Yoshi.

"They're rocks- how do rocks give off a scent?!"

"Just trust us!"

The Mario Bros. shrugged and followed their animal companions' noses. They stuck their noses in bushes, down paths, up a tree, and in dirt piles that Luigi was afraid weren't even dirt. Finally, Yoshi caught waft of the Whomp.

"Whoa! A Whomp smells like bacon!" he realized.

"Bacon!?"

Yoshi shrugged. "It's kind of a bacon smell. It's more of the smell of rock when you rub it against another for a really long time."

DK nodded and ran for the Whomp.

"Must be some smell!"

DK knocked on the Whomp while waiting for everyone else to catch up. The Whomp's eyes blinked open, and this one growled at DK too.

"Who dares to wake me?!"

"Ooo! Ooo!"

The other three caught up to DK and started panting. Yoshi gave an angry glare to Luigi.

"you just had to get your foot caught in that vine!"

Mario scratched the back of his head. "How was he supposed to know it would trigger a bunch of arrows?"

"Why does all trouble begin with me?" sighed the unlucky hero. Meanwhile, Yoshi handed the Whomp his 10 coins and a new path was opened up, this one leading up into the cliff DK was talking about. Whomp folded his arms.

"At this rate you'll end up in the ruins…" he grunted. "…but you won't be able to open the treasure without a Star!"

Mario held up a hand as they walked by. "I think we'll manage."

As they passed their second point, the ground beneath them began to get steeper. Mario trotted onward, occasionally looking down to see they were heading to an upper part of the jungle. Were they possibly headed to where the ruins were?

"I hope this treasure's worth it…" wheezed Luigi, in dire need of bug spray. DK made a noise in response.

"This treasure belonged to DK's ancestors. I'm sure it'll be worth it…" Mario replied. Luigi sighed again, his eye catching sight of something on the ground.

"Hey…what's that?"

"Don't touch anything again Luigi!" Yoshi yelled, but Luigi had already grabbed the rope. Another rumble was heard, but instead of one large round rock it was four separate small things. Everyone turned around, only to be consumed by barrels that appeared out of literally nowhere!

"What the heck?!"

"Not again Luigi!!"

"I didn't know! I DIDN'T KNOW!"

"If we die in this jungle because of your accidents, I'll haunt your afterlife!"

"Just leave me alone Yoshi! Aah…"

"Woo-hoo! Ooo!" cheered Donkey Kong, the only one enjoying the ride. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi tumbled in their barrels, bumping the sides and getting several bruises. They went from a flat surface to rolling down a hill again. DK had enough and pounded his way out, Yoshi fell in a small puddle, and Luigi crashed into a tree. Mario tumbled into a wall of some sort, his barrel breaking instantly. Looking up, he was face to face with a Whomp.

"You wanna go down this path I'm on?" he snorted in an unfriendly tone. Mario, Yoshi, and DK gave a look to Luigi as he paid their last set of 10 coins. Whomp nodded respectfully. "Then I'll move."

"There goes all our cash…" complained Yoshi. "Now how are we supposed to pay the last Whomp?"

"Maybe we'll come across some!" Mario suggested. Yoshi scowled.

"Oh yeah Mario. There's really going to be 10 coins deep in a jungle. Mm-hm. Right."

"No need to be so negative!"

"Sorry. Just a little frustrated…"

"Nothing I could've possibly caused!" Luigi blurted out. Yoshi let out a hiss and Mario and DK grabbed his arms.

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't activated three traps already, we'd be there by now! I could've had my hotel in Neon Heights already with that treasure!"

DK let go of Yoshi and pounded his chest in disagreement.

"Hey, that treasure is probably supposed to be inherited to DK and you know it Yoshi!" Mario defended.

"As if you wouldn't go splurge on Mushroom food products!"

"You take that back!"

"Make me."

"Make me make you!"

DK pounded at the ground and threatened to bash Mario and Yoshi on the head. Luigi looked around terrified until he grabbed his hat and screamed.

"STOP IT! DON'T LET THE TREASURE TEAR US ALL APART!!!!!"

Birds could be heard flying out of the forest, leaving Luigi with a deep blush. Besides that, everyone got quiet. Yoshi turned to Mario and DK.

"I'm sorry guys…I got a little out of hand."

Mario hung his head in shame. "Yeah, me too."

DK groaned and hid his face in his hands. Mario patted the gorilla's shoulder. "I think DK agrees too."

Luigi struck a pose. "Looks like I did something right!"

Yoshi put an arm around Mario. "Why don't we all just split the treasure, if that's okay with you, Donkey…"

DK nodded happily.

"…because I've realized _it's all Luigi's fault!!!_"

Luigi's face fell. "HUH?!?"

"GET HIM!"

Mario skidded in front of Luigi and held his hands out. "Whoa whoa! Luigi might deserve a beating, but they all really were accidents!"

Luigi broke down on his knees and begged for forgiveness. Yoshi and DK exchanges looks for the longest time before finally sighing and forgiving Luigi silently.

"It looks like you learned your lessons…" an unfamiliar voice chuckled. Everyone froze in search of the voice. A koopa suddenly emerged out of the greenery, smiling.

"Who're you?" Mario asked.

"Oh, just a friend…" the koopa chuckled. He motioned for DK to come forth. DK obeyed without question. "I hear you're all out of money to pay those Whomps, am I correct?"

"Well, y-yeah, but-"

The Koopa grabbed DK's hand and placed 10 more coins into it. Yoshi broke into a song and dance.

"There you go. You four deserve this. The last Whomp isn't too far from here…just keep heading down the path." without another word, the koopa slowly headed off. The four just stared and gawked at him. DK glanced at the money in his hand and cheered.

"That was awfully convenient…" noticed Luigi.

"Who cares- we got the cash!" Yoshi cried. "Let's keep going down the path!"

They were all in agreement and continued onward, now with their spirits raised by the mysterious koopa. As he had said, the final Whomp rested a few steps later.

"Have you come to the ruins for the treasure that you seek?" it murmured, a tad nicer than the previous Whomps. DK gave a thumbs up while handing him the 10 coins. The Whomp just chuckled.

"Well too bad! Without a star, you'll never be able to get to the ancient treasure!" it cackled.

Luigi pointed in an intimidating way. "You'll see! We'll find that star!"

The Whomp started laughing even harder, resulting in falling over on its side. Yoshi stomped his foot.

"He's right. Where are we gonna find a star before we reach the ruins?"

"We're already in the ruins…" Mario pointed out, motioning to their current surroundings. It was full of barrels, let's start there. Ancient tree houses had been collapsed, and plants were sticking out of their remains.

"That still doesn't solve the problem of how we going to get a star…"

Suddenly, a small scream cried out, and this time, a familiar friend started to run down the path. All four characters reeled back in surprise. Toad dashed out of the ruins, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. Mario stopped him in mid-run.

"Wait a few seconds Toad! Where are you going?"

"-and where did you come from?" Luigi added. Toad stopped running and looked up into Mario. He yelped and took a couple steps back.

"Wow! You guys are lost here too? Glad I'm not alone!" Toad exclaimed.

"What're you talking about? We were following DK's instructions!" Yoshi explained. Toad's face fell.

"Oh. I got lost in the jungle yesterday, and I've been searching for a way out when I found the ruins! Pretty neat, right? So I stayed here for the night and I found the treasure!"

"Really?! Where?"

"Just inside the grounds, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't budge it. So while I went searching for a stick or something, I found a really neat star! Then I ran into Bowser, he threw a gold statue of himself at me and wanted me to pay 10 coins, he yelled at me, and I screamed and ran and I found you guys and-"

"take it easy Toad!"

Toad took a deep breath. "Sorry."

"Wait…did you say you found a Star?" Mario inquired. Toad nodded. He pulled it out and winked.

"This is it all right!"

"That's how we open the treasure!" Luigi told Toad. Toad grinned.

"Really?! Then what are we waiting for?!"

DK let out a roar of happiness and took off down the rest of the path into the ruins. Toad laughed and followed, trailed by Yoshi, Mario, and an unsure Luigi.

"You know, it's sure lucky we ran into you Toad…" Mario stated. Toad nodded.

"Yeah, I would've been lost here for who knows how long!"

"By the way, is Bowser still around?" asked Luigi nervously. Toad shook his head.

"I think he got tired of chasing me. I suppose his statue does look a little cool…"

He showed it to Mario and Luigi who had different opinions. Yoshi ran back to get them.

"Hurry up you guys! DK found it! DK found it!"

Mario, Luigi, and Toad wasted no time in following, coming to where DK was standing next to a stone chest. Luigi sniffled.

"It's so beautiful…"

The star in Toad's pocket suddenly flew out and circled the mystical stone chest. Everyone gathered anxiously around, eager to see the prize inside. Yoshi was getting vision of himself being swamped by coins. The star placed itself on the star-shape on the lid, and it began to open. Everyone leaned forward. Something was sparkling inside.

"Oh! Oh! It's gold! It's gold-" Yoshi began. The treasure inside flew out and fell softly into DK's hands. But, they were only- "-gold bananas?! They aren't even edible!"

"I feel so ripped off!" Luigi complained, marching off once again. Unknown to him, he activated another trap.

"Don't you know how valuable these are?" Toad asked. "They're probably worth more than 9,999 coins!"

Yoshi's eyes lit up. "We'll be able to buy the Mushroom Kingdom with that kind of money!"

"I say DK should hang onto it," suggested Mario.

"yeah, that would be for the best, since we can't split it."

"But…but…but…"

Mario patted Yoshi as DK promised to put the golden bananas away for safe keeping.

"Don't worry Yoshi- at least we had fun finding the treasure!"

Yoshi sighed. "I guess, I guess…you take good care of that DK, or I'll come and steal it!"

DK gave a firm nod. Toad smiled, then started to look around curiously.

"Hey…where's Luigi?"

"HELP! HELP ME PLEASE!!!"

All eyes turned to Luigi, running away from another boulder not far off. They all shared a laugh for a few moments.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

"Ah, should we go help him?" Toad asked.

"Yeah, we will…" Mario trailed. He turned and waved to DK. "See you later Donkey Kong. Enjoy your new treasure!"

DK waved back as Mario hopped on Yoshi and took off, Toad running after them. As they headed off to save Luigi, DK climbed a tree with a huge bunch of bananas and struck his gold in the middle of the bunch.

"They'll never be found…al least, until I eat them."

DK snickered to himself, and as a matter of fact started to lounge in the tree and snack on a banana.

* * *

**First one is rather simple...but what else would you expect? There's some tales I love, and some I don't even really like...I just take the first idea I have and type it up! They're ALL different! So, you too might like one and not another. Wario's Battle Canyon is my current favorite, but I'm sure Neon Heights will beat it once I write it. ^.^ That's my favorite board ever!**

**Oh yeah, by the way...Acts= Board number in the game its in, and Episode= the game number. So, for example, Act 1, Episode 1 would be Board 1 of Mario Party 1. I did it like this so that way we don't have to wait forever to get to a Mario Party 8 tale or just one of the later ones in general...and all the Bowser Boards I put into one act by themselves known as the "Bowser Act", but that won't come until the end. Another thing, I'm writing these tales out of order. I did this one first, but actually only finished Act 1, Episode 2 (Pirate Land) three days ago, while Episodes in Acts 2, 3, and 4 have been done fore as long as this one...maybe that'll effect the quality of each one, new vs old. Wow, I talk...Now that I'm done ranting, I wish you a happy day! ^.^**


	2. Act 1, Episode 2

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 2: Pirate Land

_In the lands across the sea,_

_We pirates do as we please._

_So come along, we'll search for treasure_

_Maybe it'll last forever!_

_Yo ho yo ho, here we go!_

_Argh, argh argh argh…_

_We're the pirates of these seas…_

"Are we almost there, Captain Mario?" Pirate Peach asked anxiously. Captain Mario, standing at the front of the boat, was staring intently through a telescope.

"Aye, we are. The land's not too far away…"

"Mwahaha! I can't-a wait to get me hands on the treasure…" First Mate Wario cackled greedily, not planning to tell the rest of his crew he was going to make off with whatever they found.

"I think I'm getting sea sick…" groaned Luigi. He threw his head over the side of the boat and moaned. Peach smacked her head.

"Maybe we should pick up the speed just a little more…"

Mario gave a nod and pointed in front of him. "Straight ahead, Yoshi!"

Yoshi gained more control of the wheel, the ship suddenly moving faster. The black sail had the words "Pirate Land" printed on it. The rag-tag team of pirates were headed to the legendary land to seek a hidden treasure that pirates from past generations had buried. Now, they were just arriving on the vast island. Luigi instantly sprung off the ship and landed semi-stylishly.

"Argh! Let's-a be gettin' the treasure!" he growled, sword ready for action. Mario helped Peach off the ship while Yoshi and Wario hopped down themselves.

"Who's got the map?" asked Wario. Mario lifted his pirate cap and pulled out a rolled piece of paper.

"I have it, since I'm obviously captain…We'll look at it when we need it, but I've already memorized the beginning and we'll need to head westward."

He placed the map back under his cap as Luigi raised his hand.

"Um…isn't Cap'n Bowser scavenging this area the reason no one hunts here anymore?"

"Aw, Luigi…everyone knows Cap'n Bowser's just a myth to scare pirates away!" Yoshi scoffed, adjusting his blue and white striped shirt.

"I certainly believe!" Luigi continued to protest. "Don't you remember the legend of the Toad who came here in a tiny boat… he had found an object worthy of the treasure, but then Cap'n Bowser suddenly arrived and took it away! People think the Toad is being held captive, but others say he was just cast on a beach and left for the sharks…"

"That's a bunch of phooey, Luigi, and you know it!" exclaimed Peach crossly. Luigi placed his hands on his hips.

"Oh really? Then why hasn't that Toad ever come back, hm?"

"Maybe because there's wasn't one?" snorted Wario, already walking off to find the treasure.

"Tubby's got a point!" added Yoshi. Luigi looked pleadingly at Mario.

"You believe me, don't you Bro.?"

Mario squirmed for a brief moment before saying, "We'll keep an eye our for him just in case…"

Luigi grumbled, _"You don't believe me…"_ under his breath, but it was a pirate rule to never speak out against your captain. Mario firmly led the way, being followed by Peach, Wario, Yoshi, and Luigi in that order.

"Can I see the map?" Wario demanded. "I'd like to at least know where we're going!"

Mario snorted. "Yeah right! I know you, Wario. The second I hand you the map, you'll go wobbling off to take the loot for yourself! But, I'll at least tell you where we're going…"

He took the map out from under his hat and opened it up.

"We go by a whole mess of shipwrecks, navigate against other scurvy pirates on the island, cross Shy Guy's Bridge, and the treasure should be found over there. "

"Don't forget threats like sharks and pirates trying to blast us!" Peach squealed.

"Or Cap'n Bowser!" piped up Luigi.

"He's not real!" everyone else shouted.

"Fine! Believe what you will, but I know he's out there…waiting to raid us!"

Mario sighed and stashed away the map before heading onward. The rest of the pirates started humming their sea chant while Wario kept an eye out for any clues about the treasure and Luigi a sign of Bowser.

"Hey…look at that!" Yoshi called, motioning to a bottle in the water. "It has a message in it!"

"It could be a picture of the treasure- I mean, an important note!" wailed Wario.

"Or a sign about Cap'n Bowser!" Luigi added.

"Well fish it out already!" urged Peach. Mario picked up a stick and attempted to pull the bottle closer to the shore so he could grab it. When it was almost there, both Wario and Luigi dove on the ground and battled for the bottle, until Peach delicately reached her hand into the scrap and claimed the bottle for herself.

"Now, let's see what this says…" she trailed, handing the bottle to Yoshi to open. Yoshi smugly accepted it, then struggled to pull the cork out. He twisted, yanked, pulled, and even used his teeth the try and pull the cork out. Wario snatched the bottle, pulled the cork right out, and accidentally hit Luigi in the forehead with it. Mario took the bottle back just in case and read the message inside.

"Anyone who receives this…please find me if you want the treasure and to stop Cap'n Bowser…I have what you need…"

Wario folded his arms. "I bet Luigi planted that on purpose to try and make us think Cap'n Bowser is real…"

"I did not! And by the way, I do not enjoy being _corked_ either!"

Mario reread the note and few times and scratched his head. "How odd…maybe if we find whoever sent this, we'll find the treasure a lot easier!"

Peach happily clapped her hands. "Oh I hope so! That'd be great!"

"Still, something about this seems…off…" pondered Yoshi. "If only I knew what it was…"

----

Continuing onward, they walked the length of the beach, afraid to get lost in the deep jungles of the island. The same thing was on everyone's minds- where was the treasure exactly? Was Cap'n Bowser real after all, and who was the writer of the message in the bottle? Questions were one thing pirates weren't very good at solving. After another good dose of time, a voice suddenly called out to them.

"Help! Help!"

"Sounds like someone's in trouble!" Mario exclaimed. Wario groaned loudly.

"Ugh, I HATE that when someone calls for help, the hero always points out the obvious and is like "Oh, someone's in trouble!" Well, DUH! They wouldn't be calling for help is they weren't! Sheesh!"

Mario made a face. "…fine. Let's go assist the one calling for help because its already obvious they're in trouble!"

The call of help was emitting from a wrecked ship, the front half floating up out of the water. Yoshi quickly ran over and poked his head inside a hole.

"Hey guys! There's a koopa in here!" he yelled. The red shelled koopa smiled a stuck a hand out.

"Oh. Great for someone to hear me at last!"

"Are you stuck in there and need help getting out?" Luigi asked.

"Oh, goodness no!"

"Then why were you shouting for help?"

"Yeah, it made it seem like you were in _trouble!" _sneered Wario.

"Oh, I do need help! See, my ship crashed here, and I can't fix it without proper funding, so I explore the island looking for things to sell to get the money! But, no one ever shows up because of the "Toad and Cap'n Bowser" story…"

"We thought you were in real trouble!" exhausted Yoshi. Peach placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Technically he is in a bit of a bind…" she pulled out 5 coins and handed them to the Koopa. "…so I'll help him out!"

"Oh, let the stars bless you! What would you like to buy?"

Peach held a hand. "Nothing- you just keep that money and I hope it helps you get that boat fixed!"

The koopa nodded. "Oh, it will! It will! Thank you!"

Peach smiled and started to walk off, followed by the rest of them until Luigi asked, "Hey, did you happen to send a message in a bottle?"

The koopa looked confused. "Message in a…no, I don't believe I have. Sorry. Why?"

Luigi shrugged. "Just curious. Good luck with your boat!"

The koopa gave a nod and placed his newly earned 5 coins in his savings jar.

-----

"That was a really nice thing you did Peach…" Mario trailed, after walking another distance more.

"Well, once we find the treasure, we'll have more than enough to spend, won't we?" she replied giddily.

"Yeah, you're right!"

"Anyway…" Yoshi began. "What are we going to encounter next?"

"According to the map, its Shy Guy's Bridge!"

"But we haven't encountered any "scurvy pirates" yet!"

Mario shrugged. "Maybe they just won't show up or-"

"YARGH! ATTACK!"

"What the-"

A band of Pirate Shy Guys jumped out of nowhere and thrusted their swords at the pirate gang's necks.

"Give us all yer booty and ye be keepin' those necks of yers!" one snapped.

"No one gets over our boss' bridge without payin' up, see?" another pointed out, edging his sword closer to Luigi.

"But we don't have any loot!" cried Peach.

"We're looking for loot right now!" Yoshi threw in. "So why would we have any now?"

The main one looked thoughtful. "Hmm…you possess a point. But that doesn't change the fact ye need to be a-giving something up to across!"

"NEVER!" Wario roared, knocking out one Shy Guy and throwing them all off. "RUN!"

He attempted to run while the rest of his crew sprinted right by him. All of the Shy Guys that hadn't been taken out by Wario chased after them like an angry mob.

"Captain Guy!" the leader of the riot called. "Fire the cannon at all on the bridge!"

Captain Guy, the red Shy Guy wearing a large and fancy pirate had, was standing at the helm of the large ship, patrolling over his large bridge. He saw a koopa happily skipping across, until a cannonball made contact with it and sent the koopa flying. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario, and Yoshi all saw the spectacle and gulped.

"NONE MAY PASS!" Captain Guy boomed, firing at the gang.

"Run faster!" Yoshi cried, until Wario plopped himself onto the dinosaur's back. "Gah! What're you doing?!"

"You said run faster- I'm running faster by letting you do the running for me!"

"No one will be running if you don't get all of your body weight off of me!!!"

Wario grunted and climbed down as a cannonball narrowly missed hitting both of them. That was enough motivation to get them running again. Luigi was screaming his head off as Mario was making sure Peach was getting to safety.

"I'LL BLAST YOU RIGHT BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!"

"That's definitely not good…" gulped Luigi, hurdling over another crashed cannonball.

"Whatever you do, don't get hit!" Mario called.

"No, I certainly plan on being bashed in the head with a half-ton sphere of metal!" snapped Wario.

"Oh, with the sarcasm!"

Peach pointed forward. "Hurry! We're almost to the other side!"

Captain Guy sent even more cannonballs raining down on the group. One just brushed against Luigi's ankle, causing him to start flying, but Yoshi jumped up and gabbed him at the last second.

"You saved my life Yoshi!"

"Please don't mention it."

With a daring leap off the bridge, the five finally made it out of range of the cannon. Captain Guy shouted to the skies before blowing another koopa off his bridge.

"Do we have to use that way to go back?"

"I hope not…"

Mario dusted himself off and looked around. "We're getting closer to the treasure- I can feel it!"

Wario greedily rubbed his hands together. "Me too! Wah hah ha!"

"Let's get going then!"

Peach eagerly darted ahead, the other pirates struggling to keep up. As they passed a strange skull cave, Luigi stopped running and gazed into it, as if it held some kind of importance. As he looked, a frightening face that was like a mutated koopa peered out of the darkness, laughing deeply and heartily an evilly. Luigi yelped and ran after his comrades.

He had seen Cap'n Bowser.

**When He Caught up-**

"Guy! Guys! GUYS!" Luigi wailed like a siren as he struggled to catch up with them. He nearly had his leg bitten off by a Chomp, if it wasn't for that chain keeping him away.

"What is it _now_, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"I…saw…huff…Cap'n Bowser!"

Everyone groaned.

"I think he's been in the sun too long…"

Mario walked over and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Luigi, Luigi, Luigi…there is no Cap'n Bowser, okay? It's just a story to keep people away from the treasure."

"But I saw his face in the skull cave!" Luigi protested. "It was so gnarly and evil and fangful and…just horrible with a pirate theme!"

"How come _we_ didn't see it then?" Yoshi questioned.

"You guys had already run ahead and I was too terrified to call you back!"

"A likely story…" Wario trailed with a sadistic grin.

"No, I'm telling the truth!"

"How are we supposed to believe you, Luigi?" began Peach.

Mario scratched the back of his head. "There really isn't any proof…"

Just then, a voice behind them meekly called out, "He tells the truth!"

"Who said that!?"

"I did…"

They all turned around to see a Toad, with tattered clothes and a smile, standing behind them.

"Aii! It's the Toad!" screamed Luigi. "The Toad from the legend!"

"Yes, I am! Although, to me it's not a legend…"

"But…if you are, then you know what happened to the object that's needed to get to the treasure!" Peach gasped.

Toad nodded. "Of course! Cap'n Bowser took it from me, then left me on Chomp Cove so the sharks could do away with me…but instead, I made friends with Sushi the Shark, and with his help, he snagged the object back from Bowser and I have it again!"

"Can we have the object?" Mario asked. "We'll keep the treasure safe from Cap'n Bowser!"

"I told you he was real!" threw in Luigi. Mario gave him a look.

Toad pondered over this. "Well…I suppose since you finally made it…were you the ones who received my message in a bottle? I had Sushi put it there to get people to come find the treasure!"

"We should've known it was you…" Peach admitted with a grin.

"C'mon! C'mon! Treasure!" Wario complained.

"Okay then, here's your star!"

Toad pulled out the golden Star and handed it to Mario. Mario accepted it then held it up over his head for the group to admire.

"Yeah!"

"Now let's go get that treasure!"

"But we don't know where it is!" Yoshi reminded them.

As if on cue, the koopa from the shipwreck came scurrying up.

"Big news! The secret treasure has been found! We have to reach it before Cap'n Bowser does! The koopa Captain Shy blasted ended up right as the site! Hurry!"

"How are we going to get there in time?" Luigi worried.

Toad jumped up and down. "You guys can take Sushi! He'll get you there in no time! Oh, Sushi!"

A blue shark cut through the water, appearing above the surface at the calling of Toad. "Yes, Toad? What's the rush?"

"Take these guys to where the secret treasure is! You've gotta get there before Cap'n Bowser!" Toad explained.

"Then why are they standing around? Hop on already!"

"Wahahaha! Money!" Wario cheered, jumped onto Sushi.

"Oh jeez…this might be harder than I thought…"

**Meanwhile-**

"La la la la…ooh! What's this?" the green koopa wonder, stepping into the skull cave. Going deeper into it, he found a sword stuck in a heap of gold, surrounded by bags of money, and the treasure chest right in the middle. "Yo, ho, ho, and a cave full of treasure!"

Just as the green koopa prepared to take some-

"ARGH! Stop right there!" a deep, menacing voice boomed. Cap'n Bowser stomped in as the koopa turned to him with fear. "ye wouldn't be a-thinkin' of stealin' me treasure, would ye, matey?"

"Uh…uh…I was just lookin', Cap'n. I didn't take any!" the koopa hung his head and started shaking violently.

"Arrgh! That's better, me matey! WAH ha ha HAH!!"

"Stop right there, Cap'n Bowser!"

Cap'n Bowser turned away from the koopa and glared at the intruders. "Argh? Who goes there?!"

Koopa gasped. "Why it's-"

"Me, Luigi!" Luigi exclaimed. How did Luigi of all people end up in there? Well-

**Flashback-**

Oh, I can hear the poor Koopa in there!" Peach whimpered when they reached the cave entrance. "We've gotta help him!"

"Well I don't feel like beating a brute today…" Yoshi trailed.

"I say Luigi goes and does it- after all, he was the one so concerned about Cap'n Bowser in the first place!" sneered Wario.

"M-M-Me?!"

"Luigi! This is your chance to be a hero!" Mario exclaimed. "You could be promoted to Captain!"

Luigi stopped trembling and struck a heroic pose. "I'll defeat him! Don't worry! Captain Luigi lurks on the horizon!"

"That was almost too easy…" Yoshi whispered to Wario, who nodded in return.

**End Flashback-**

"So you've come, Captain Luigi? Ye'll never gets me plunder!" Cap'n Bowser boomed again with a smug look. He charged at Luigi, who gulped and charged right back. The Koopa ran outside while Bowser and Luigi engaged in some serious swordplay. Luigi mostly landed hits and blocked, but he suffered some damage too. Bowser, on the other hand, was doing terrible compared to Luigi.

"Argh! Impertinent fool!"

Luigi let out a battle cry and dealt a blow to Bowser's stomach. That was all it took for Bowser to grabbed him tummy and hobble off.

"Ouch, that smarts!"

The koopa returned, looking incredibly frazzled from the excitement. Bowser called over his shoulder, "Fine then bully! You can have the treasure!!"

"Take that, you brute!" Koopa called back, grabbing the Star and even daring to throw it at Bowser. Luigi just grinned and scratched the back of his head. Toad and the rest of the pirate gang came rushing in.

"Yeah!" cheered Toad.

"What do you know? Luigi actually did it!" Yoshi exclaimed.

Peach squealed and gave Luigi a hug. "I can't believe you took Cap'n Bowser out!"

'It was nothing, really…"

"Sorry we didn't believe you before, Bro…" Mario admitted, looking a bit sheepish.

"That's okay!" he then glanced around at everyone. "Um…where did Wario go?"

Mario, Peach, Luigi, Yoshi, Toad and Koopa glanced at the cave exit to see Wario struggling to carry all the booty back to the ship.

"This-a money belongs to Wario! Wah hah hah!"

"What're you doing!?"

"Get back here before we beat you with a stick!"

"You cheapskate!"

"WARIO!"

The Koopa just watched as toad started laughing. "All's _sail_ that ends _sail_, eh?"

"Um, no. Not really."

* * *

**My personal rating: 3 out of 5. Only because I was stuck on this for awhile and wasn't sure where to go with it. But, Chilly Waters is MUCH more promising-especially with Waluigi and Daisy having their disputes...**


	3. Act 1, Episode 3

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 3: Chilly Waters

"Oh…it's _very_ cold here, Peach…" Daisy trembled, folding her arms to try and capture the warmth.

"Well, it IS called Chilly Waters for SOME reason…" Wario snorted. "It takes **Wit** to get around this place!"

Waluigi chuckled and sidled up to Daisy. "But, if you're_ REALLY_ cold, Waluigi here could always keep you warm…"

Peach got in-between them and pushed Waluigi away. "You stay away from her, you weasel! The only reason us four are here, let alone together, is because of that stupid bet Mario and Luigi had with you!"

"Ah, losers…" sighed Waluigi. "Especially the green one."

Daisy held up a fist. "You'd better leave my Luigi alone, you hear?"

Waluigi held up his hands. "Whatever, Princess…"

Daisy sighed and smacked her head. Mario and Luigi had a bet with Wario and Waluigi to see who could eat the most pasta. It was Mario's favorite food, but Wario could eat more than Mario. Wario's disadvantage was the fact Waluigi hardly ate anything, and Luigi much preferred pizza or spaghetti. So it was pretty even. However, the doppelgangers won, and the bet was whoever won would end up at Chilly Waters with the princesses.

And now Peach and Daisy were sure to have a terrible time.

"You could at least try to have fun!" Wario complained.

"No! Being stuck here with a slob and a tricky weasel guarantees nothing good will come out of it!" Peach protested.

"Why does she keep calling me a weasel?" Waluigi whispered to Wario.

"Beats me."

Daisy just groaned and started to walk off. "Might as well just get this over with…"

Peach stuck up her nose and followed suit. "You said it!"

Wario growled until Waluigi gripped his shoulder. "C'mon, man! We've gotta figure out a way to get those girls to dig us! This might be the only chance we'll ever get!"

"Wah hah ha. Do you _really_ think they're going to love us in one day! ? US!"

"You're-a the Wit-man! Why don't you try using some?"

"Whatever…"

Wario and Waluigi quickly caught up with the princesses, already arriving at the first attraction. The girls were playing with perky penguins while the guys were scheming up their first plot.

"Aw, these penguins are SO cute!" Daisy gushed, patting one on the head. "Hey Peach? What's the difference between a Bumpity and a Penguin?"

"Bumpities are more civilized than penguins, besides the fact they're a lighter shade of blue, and they have no necks and wider beaks." Peach explained, cradling one and gazing at the houses scattered along the lakeshore. "Some Bumpities are really wild though, and can be pretty mean. Penguins are somewhere in the middle of Classy Bumpities and Wild ones."

"I see. We don't have Bumpities or Penguins in Sarasaland…"

**MEANWHILE-**

Wario clapped his hands. "Okay! I gots-a great idea now!"

"It's better be great!"

"It is, because it came from ME!"

"Well, what's the idea already! ?"

Wario made a motion for him to be quiet. "Okay, we build this HUGE snowman, see? Because girls fall for stupid stuff like that, and they'll be all impressed with my wit and strength and your…your…well, whatever you have."

Waluigi folded his arms and made a face. "That **is** a stupid idea."

"Do you have anything?"

"If I _did_, it would be way better than _that._"

Wario ignored him and started rolling up a snowball. "This isn't going to build itself! Help me!"

Waluigi sighed and scooped up and handful of snow. "Hey girls? Wanna help us build a snowman?"

Daisy glanced at Peach. "Do we have to?"

"I don't see why not. At least they're trying to be nice!"

Peach picked up some snow and patted it onto the ball Wario was making. Wario gave her a toothy grin and tried to show off his muscles by pushing the snowball even faster. Daisy reluctantly assisted Waluigi with the snowman's head and was praying that the purple plumber wouldn't pull any moves on her.

"The head takes way more skill to make than the body…" Waluigi boasted, pushing the snowball with his back and trudging backward. He gave a smug look to Wario then turned and flashed a smile at Daisy. Daisy groaned and threw more snow at the snowman's head.

"Just…keep rolling…"

Waluigi shrugged and continued to make the snow sphere until it was perfect size. He then waited for Wario to finish rolling the body -mainly with Peach and penguins' help- and called for Daisy.

"You wanna put the face on?" he asked quietly. Daisy groaned and snagged the rocks from his hand.

"Only to entertain you…" she spat. Waluigi held up his hands.

"At least I'm trying to be nice…I could be Wario…"

They glanced over to Wario and Peach arguing while the penguins were finishing the body and putting in the sticks for the arms.

"C'mon! I had to push a ton of snow _plus_ you!" Wario shouted. Peach gasped and put her hands on her hips.

"Are you calling me fat! ?"

"Not necessarily!"

"…what?"

"Wait, uh…yeah, I don't-a know either…"

Peach sighed and finished rounding out the snowball. Daisy gave her a sympathetic grin and started putting on the eyes and the mouth. Waluigi watched with interest as Wario's manic shouting could be heard in the background.

"Can we put the head on already? !"

"Almost!" Waluigi snapped back. "Done yet Daisy?"

"I guess…" was the replying sigh. The princess stepped away, revealing a pretty decent snowman face. Waluigi nodded in approval. Wario grabbed the head and slammed it down on the body. Peach looked at it while cocking her head.

"Um, are you sure it won't fall off?" shed asked Wario. "I mean, it does seem a little loose…"

Wario blew a raspberry. "Pbth, of course it will! _I _put it on! And I bet 50 coins that if I punch this thing the head won't fall off!"

"But-"

Wario gave the snowman and hearty punch, and at first nothing happened.

"Huh. Maybe it was stabl-"

Then, the ground started to shake. The four looked up to see the head slowly rocking back and by the looks of it, it was going to fall forward.

"Run like you've never run before!" Waluigi yelled. He instantly sprinted away, with Daisy crying behind, "Wait for me!"

"Way to go Wario!" Peach snorted as she started hurrying off. Wario snapped out of his surprised stance and followed after. "Not to mention you owe me 50 coins after this!" she quickly added.

"Wario owes no one!"

"You little-"

The head of the snowman fell into the snow face first before it started to roll down the hill, sending out a loud boom and making all four cry out. Wario miraculously passed Peach in the sprint, only because his life was on the line. Now the two princesses were in the back.

"That is SO ungentlemanly!" Daisy complained.

"We're going to be crushed!" shrieked Peach.

"Yeah, that's a problem too…"

They both screamed as the snowball brutally bulldozed them over, muffling out their yelps. Waluigi braked instantly, struck a pose, and announced "We've gotta save them!", only to also be ran over. Wario didn't get far either before he was taken in by the snow too.

"This is your fault, Wario!" Peach shouted as they rolled.

"You're the one who's all "Oh, they're trying to be nice!" snapped Daisy.

"Are you defending them?"

"No, I'm doing justice by saying who's fault it REALLY is!"

"You two are the last ones who need to be fighting!" Waluigi yelled, silencing them both.

"How do we get out of this?" wailed Wario, still only concerned about his survival.

"I knew this would be terrible!"

"ROOF!"

"Roof?"

Everyone looked forward-when they had the chance- to see a completely snowed-in lodge with only its large roof protruding, and they were about to smash into it.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

"Oh-"

Waomph! The snowball went head-on into the roof and disintegrated, with Wario landing on skiing penguin, Peach falling in a tree, and Waluigi ending up on top of Daisy.

**Mere Seconds Later-**

"_YEECCH!_ Get off me!" Daisy kicked Waluigi off of her and frantically brushed herself off as if her dress had been stained with almost-permanent mud or just a highly deadly disease. "Oh gross, gross, GROSS! Ugh, I'll have to take 3 baths after this…oh boy, oh boy…eeehhh…"

Waluigi, who had also been knocked into a penguin, stood up and brushed himself off.

"Hmph! I wasn't that bad…"

"Did I ever tell you about that weird scent you have? I'm probably covered with it now!"

"What, my man stench?"

"Oh, that lame cologne of his? Bleh…" muttered Wario from not too far away.

"I'll probably smell like him for the rest of the day!"

Waluigi sniffed himself. "I don't think it's bad…"

"Hey, can someone help me!" Peach cried. "I know smelling each other must be fascinating, but I'm not liking the smell of pine needles right now!"

Wario, after being beaten by at least 5 penguins, trotted over and gave the tree a good pound, Peach toppling into Wario's arms almost instantly. The yellow plumber gave a slick grin until Peach slapped him and rolled right out of his arms.

"Terrible! Horrible, I say!" Daisy complained.

"So we were engulfed by a snowball…" Waluigi shrugged off. "Big deal!"

"Which was you idea to begin with!" snorted Daisy. "We hardly got a say in it!"

"Then what WOULD you like to do?" Wario inquired.

"I want to go ice skating!" Peach fumed. "C'mon Daisy! We're light enough to go on together!"

"You two can have the pleasure of watching- but don't you DARE step on the ice!" Daisy warned, being dragged off by Peach.

Waluigi took off his cap and shook off the snow. "We really-a did it that time…"

"That doesn't matter -I've-a got another idea!"

"So do I! I'm going to ignore _your _idea! How's that?"

Wario made a face and folded his arms. "Wah ha. Now listen. We'll let them skate for awhile until they're content again, then we enter the ice, and with our simply amazing skating moves, we'll impress them for sure this time, and then they skate with us. Simple?"

"Sure…if the ice wasn't going to collapse under your whale weight!"

Wario sneered and rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, because its thin ice? They only say that now so in the spring when everything begins to thaw, they don't have to keep putting the same message up over and over again! It's as strong as it can get at this time of year, which means the ice'll be able to withstand my "whale weight"!"

Waluigi sighed in disagreement and sat in the snow, watching Daisy. Wario just fell back and made a circular snow angel. Peach was currently performing her special routine with all sorts of fancy back-bending moves while Daisy was fine with light spins and figure 8s. Eventually, they started doing tricks and twirls in the air, followed by grabbing each other's hands and spinning the other around the ice and laughing. Wario poked his head up out of the snow and whispered:

"It's time…I just have to get up."

Waluigi shook his head and stepped onto the ice himself. "You're-a on your own, man."

"No! Wait!"

Waluigi pushed off and skated toward Daisy. She and Peach were still swinging around, until Waluigi cut through them and literally took Daisy away.

"May I have this skate with you?"

"What are you doing on the ice! ?" Daisy hissed "It's already thin enough, and now you're going to kill me by trying to pull a move!"

Waluigi raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen me? I'm a devilishly handsome twig! Now, if the fatso came on the ice, then we'd be in trouble…"

Daisy struggled to break free, even calling to Peach for help, but Peach was caught up in a difficult move and Waluigi had a very tight grip.

"I don't know what you're doing, but you're going way too far!" Daisy yelled, still fighting to be free after being bent over by her captor. Waluigi shrugged.

"There's really nothing you can do about it…"

"Oooh, the next time I talk to Luigi…"

While Waluigi was "torturing" Daisy and Peach was still happily spinning like a top, Wario finally emerged from the snow. It was quite the feat with those little legs of his.

"Ah! Now's it's-a Wario's turn!"

He hobbled out onto the ice, and before he had even taken five steps, the ice lurched. Peach stopped in mid-spin. Waluigi and Daisy froze in mid-skate. Wario was completely oblivious to the danger and kept walking out.

"Don't. Come. Any. Closer…" Peach hissed.

"Don't play hard to get with me!"

"Hard to get? I'm playing keep away with a freezing, drowning_ death_!"

Wario took one last step before the ice officially started to crack. Waluigi screamed and dropped Daisy, starting to run for the second time that day. Wario now realized that thin ice actually meant "thin ice" and moved faster that ever before. Peach had gotten stuck in a crack and Daisy was stuck groaning on the ground.

"D-Daisy…" Peach stammered.

"Yeah?"

"This is going to be cold."

"Yeah."

The ice caved and both princesses fell into the freezing water. One moment, they were under the surface, next they had jumped out like flying fish and screamed, "AIIII! COLD!"

Peach and Daisy splashed back into the water and cried for help while Wario and Waluigi were trembling in safety.

"We've gotta go back!" Waluigi exclaimed.

"Why? We're alive, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but they're going to die because you ARE alive!"

"FINE! I'll waste my time and energy trying to save them…"

"you and your stupid plans!"

Waluigi dove into the water, only to resurface and scream like a girl.

"Sweet mama mia- COLD! COLD!"

Peach had grabbed Daisy and started to swim back to shore, completely forgetting Waluigi's rescue attempt. When the water got shallow enough, Daisy started to swim herself. They toppled into the snow, which was a lot warmer than the water itself. Waluigi was paralyzed with cold so he couldn't move, while Wario had simply stuck in a toe and said, "No way am I going in that."

"You two…are the worst…" Daisy huffed, madder than ever. The wind blew Waluigi back to land, and it wasn't surprising his legs were trapped in a block of ice.

"Oh, man…"

**Later-**

It had gotten darker in Chilly Waters, and Peach and Daisy were wrapped up in warm blankets and sipping cocoa while Waluigi was still trying to thaw his feet. Wario had offered to fart, but everyone decided against that quite quickly.

"Today was by far the worst day of my life…" Daisy murmured.

"It wasn't THAT bad-" Waluigi tried to protest.

"Oh really? Then why was I crushed by a snowball, nearly drowned, and stuck with you during the day? That makes it a pretty rotten package, if you ask me!"

Wario shook his head. "Harsh, sister."

Waluigi folded his arms and sighed. "Well, just know it wasn't intended…"

Daisy just growled. "I'll never forget this…"

Peach just cheerily sipped her chocolate. "It was at least a little exciting…"

"Exciting. Is that what you call a near death experience?"

"Wah, I don't need women…" Wario grumbled, getting ready to take a nap. "They're too much hassle."

Peach's pupils shrunk as her head slowly turned to Wario. "We're too much hassle? Have you seen YOU lately?"

"Has he seen him everyday…" threw in Daisy. Peach stood up and smacked Wario with her blanket.

"That's for all the trouble you've put ALL of us in today!" she yelled. Waluigi stood up too and cracked his neck.

"Girl's got a point!"

Daisy stood up too and glared at Waluigi. "I still wouldn't be talking! You went along with all his schemes!"

"H-He was going on about wit and junk and I at least** tried** to save you-"

"If you had any wit you would've attempted to change Wario's mind, but NO! Just GOTTA get the girls…gotta get them KILLED! The most you are is a **nit**-wit!"

"Harsh!"

"Shut up Wario!"

Daisy pounded her fists together angrily. "You know, Waluigi, there's still a way this day can end greatly…"

Waluigi gulped. "Uh…with a kiss?"

"Hahaha-nope! Me pummeling you into the ground!"

"What? Wait-NO!"

Daisy chucked her hot chocolate at Waluigi, but the plumber had a head start on his third run of the day. Daisy was pretty fast for being in a dress… Peach and Wario just sat back at watched curiously. Wario blinked and turned to peach.

"Did you have fun?"

Peach shrugged. "Only because you didn't try to pull any moves on me."

"But I came up with all the plans!" Wario boated.

"…but only Waluigi really carried them out…and he got in trouble with Daisy."

Wario grinned. "That was the point- I came up with the schemes, and I come out on top! And he said I had no wit…now he'll wake up tomorrow buried in a hole."

Peach just stared forward before taking a final sip of her cocoa and thought of what exactly she was going to say to Mario. But right now, she had THIS to say to Wario:

"You still owe me 50 coins. And I don't care WHO you are."

* * *

**Yes, it is here, Champ 15! :D And other readers! I've have such a long, tedious day today I needed something hilarious and fun to work on. THIS! And now, I start to work on the next episode: which happens to be Toad's Midway Madness! Which I love! **


	4. Act 1, Episode 4

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 4: Toad's Midway Madness

"Happy Birthday, Toad!" Peach shrieked as she hugged her favorite person-minus Mario. "Ooh! I'm so excited to see what you've done!"

Toad politely wiggled out of her grasp. "Uh, it's not really much-"

"Of course it is, Toad! It was made by you!" Mario replied.

"Yeah, Peach tells me you always have creative ideas!" added Daisy.

"And what better way to apply those skills than in your birthday party?" Yoshi asked. Toad scratched the back of his head.

"Aw, what the heck? Why would I stall you guys?"

Toad, for his birthday, invited Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, and DK, and was forced to include Wario and Waluigi because he knew they would definitely come after him if he didn't. Toad eagerly lead the way to the entrance of his birthday party, but then became a little nervous.

"Go on, Toad!" Luigi prompted. DK nodded and motioned for him to continue. Toad smiled and pushed open the doors, revealing a vast amusement park. All the characters' jaws dropped while Toad gave an unnecessary explanation.

"This is Toad's Midway Madness! I'm Toad, as you know. You see, I-I like amusement parks, and I built one for my birthday, and I just hope you have fun here and…"

"Toad…I can't believe you built this yourself!" Mario gawked.

"It's amazing Toad- fun is practically guaranteed here!" added Peach. Toad grinned bigger.

"Really!"

"Yes! Come on, come on! I wanna ride the roller coaster!" called Daisy, already running in.

Luigi hesitated while following. "Uh, do we really have to ride the rollercoaster first? Ooo…"

"Well, I'm going on the rollercoaster!" Daisy cried, eagerly running off.

"I call Ferris Wheel!" "Tea cups!" "Merry-go-round!" "Lottery, wah ha ha ha ha!"

Toad frowned and held out his hands. "Hey, wait-"

"I'll race you!" "Cotton candy!" "Ook!"

The gang was already running off and jumping into rides. Toad blinked and scratched his head.

"Maybe I did a better job at my amusement park than I thought…" he then shrugged. "Oh well. Maybe I should just enjoy myself too!"

He happily ran after his friends, wondering what to do first. There were quite a few rides in the amusement park: the tea cups, the roller coaster, the Ferris wheel, that one boat ride, merry-go-round, the rockets; and then there were a couple of games. Everyone was bound to have a great time.

Toad walked up to Daisy, who was waiting furiously at the entrance for the rollercoaster. She was obviously mad.

"Uh, Daisy? Do you want to ride the rollercoaster, because I can let you on-" Toad started.

"I do want to go on, but no one else does! Not even Luigi! Not even Peach! Not even Yoshi who's supposed to be all extreme and stuff! I refuse to go on unless everyone else does! I will show them that the rollercoaster is fun!"

"But Daisy, everyone else is enjoying the other rides and attractions!" Toad protested. "Don't you want to have fun where_ you_ want to have fun?"

"Not by myself!" Then, Daisy looked thoughtful. "Hey…maybe if we find everyone, we can convince them to ride the rollercoaster!"

"Wait, what do you mean, 'we'?"

Daisy smiled. "Well, you can always stand here and wait at the rollercoaster while I round everyone up and maybe even ride the rides too…which'll be really fun!"

"Okay, okay…where are we going first?"

"Rockets!" Daisy called. "C'mon! We can take a shortcut through the tea cups!"

Toad groaned and ran after Daisy. "Come on! I just got here…"

Daisy slowed up a little, but once her little "plan" was on her mind there was no stopping her! Truthfully, the tea cups were in the way of a shortened path to the rockets, but the thing about the tea cups…you could very easily get dizzy on them. And end up going the wrong way.

"Daisy!"

"What? I'm just right here!" she responded right before stepping into one of the cups. Toad yelped and jumped in alongside her.

"Careful Daisy! If we get dizzy, we'll end up at the Ferris Wheel instead of the rockets-" Toad tried to explain, but Daisy's classic shriek of "WOO HOO!" pierced the air. The ride started up, and Toad felt like he was about to be flung right out! He gripped the edge of the cup for dear life while Daisy casually threw her hands in the air.

"Yeah! This is pretty cool too!" she cheered.

"It won't be cool when I see my birthday cake again…" moaned Toad. "The world is looking really blurry right now…"

"Aw, man up Toad! It's only a ride!" Daisy scoffed. "Besides, it's ending anyway."

Toad's stomach lurched. "Oog…where'd we stop?"

"Um…well, I see the Ferris Wheel in the distance-"

"Ugh, I knew it…" Toad groaned, climbing out. "Looks like we're going to have to make our way around…right after this…"

"Right after what-"

. . . . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, Mario and Peach were enjoying a romantic moment after being stuck on top of the Ferris Wheel. And by "romantic moment" I mean simply sitting there holding each other's hands.

"Isn't this a nice view, Mario?" Peach sighed happily. "You can see the entire Midway from here! I want to go on the Merry-go-Round next!"

"Yeah…" Mario trailed, not really sure what statement he was replying to.

"I could stay up here forever with you…"

As she leaned in to make a move, the Ferris Wheel jerked forward, making Mario jump and Peach go crashing onto the floor.

"Ow…"

"Certainly wasn't expecting it just…start like that…" Mario trailed nervously.

"Did you even _care_ about what I was going to do?"

"…_gulp_…you were going to do something?"

**Several moments of beatings later-**

When Mario's and Peach's seat came back down, Toad and Daisy quickly opened the door...only to see Peach with ruffled hair and Mario with several things torn and a dozen bruises. Toad yelped and looked away while Daisy yelped, "What happened?"

"We were enjoying a romantic time on the Ferris Wheel when it suddenly moved," Peach explained.

"You got all banged up just from the wheel moving?" Toad asked.

"No, I beat up Mario."

"I'm sorry! I'm slow on getting hints!"

Peach just folded her arms and turned her nose to the sky. Toad and Daisy exchanged glances.

"Uh…Daisy wanted you to go on the rollercoaster with her." Toad said instantly after that. "We took the spinny cups to get here and-"

"He completely blew chunks?" asked Mario.

"That's a gross way to say it, but sure…"

"Wait…did you two start up the wheel again?" Peach asked. Daisy nodded.

"Yeah! We're trying to round everybody up so we can ride…THE ROLLERCOASTER!"

"I dunno…"

"It'll be FUN, Peach! Nothing gives you a rush like the feeling of wind whipping at your face!"

"Well, since you ruined MY fun, I guess I've got noting better to do…"

"I'm up for a rollercoaster ride, actually…" admitted Mario. Daisy cheered and clapped her hands.

"YES! That was easy!" she cried.

"Yeah, but how to expect to pull Wario and Waluigi away from the lottery booth, Luigi from the safety of the merry-go-round, Yoshi from the Rockets, and…wherever DK end up at?" asked Toad. Daisy just snapped her fingers.

"Don't worry about it, Toad. I've got that Daisy touch…POW!"

"This is going to be a long day…" Mario whispered to Peach.

. . . . . . . . . .

Now with Mario and Peach, Daisy and Toad set out for Wario and Waluigi at the Lottery booth. It was only natural that they'd be there. They took the tea cups back around again -poor Toad suffering the same fate and making Peach nearly faint- and worked their way over.

"Gee…look at this track!" Daisy exclaimed, walking over the rollercoaster's path. It was the only way to get to the other side of the board, and since Toad wasn't around to operate it, he assured them that they wouldn't get hit or anything. "I sure can't wait to ride it!"

"Yeah, me neither…" murmured Toad. Getting closer to the booth, they saw the Rockets not too far away- that's where Yoshi was supposed to be! Daisy grinned- this was all just too easy!

"Hey guys!" Daisy called eagerly when they reached said booth. As expected, the two greedy plumbers were gambling away and doing a pretty good job at it. Her bright smile then vanished when she saw Waluigi give her a sly grin.

"Hi, Princess! Care to gamble a bit with Waluigi?"

"No. I'd rather be eaten by a Chain Chomp!"

"Harsh!" called Wario, still staying intently focused on his money- and literally putting his money where his mouth was. Before Daisy went into "kill Waluigi" mode, Toad intervened.

"Daisy here wanted to know if you wanted to ride the rollercoaster, since she doesn't want to by herself," he explained.

"Hmph, rollercoaster, ah?" Wario stated, still not looking up. "Nah. I'm too busy trying to get rich! Wah hah hah!"

Waluigi ended up losing nearly every coin in his pocket and pounded his fist against the nearest thing- which was Mario, but Mario grabbed Waluigi's hand and flipped him.

"I am not a punching bag for your anger issues."

"Ow…"

"HEY! No fighting on Toad's birthday!" Peach exclaimed.

"What? You're the one who brutally beat me in the Fer-"

"NO ONE HAS ANSWERED MY QUESTION YET!" roared Daisy, eyes burning with rage. "ARE YOU GOING ON THE ROLLERCOASTER!"

"Take it easy woman!" Waluigi yelped, standing back up. He then glanced at the lottery, where Wario was still doing fantastic. "Listen, Daisy, if you managed to get half my coins back, then I'll go. If Toad gets the other half of my coins, then Wario will go. If neither of you get half, then we don't go. Comprende?"

"I'll "comprende" your face-"

"Wait! We'll do it!" Toad cried. "Heh heh, it might even be fun, right Daisy?"

Daisy just glared darkly at Waluigi. "I don't know if I even want Waluigi to come anymore…"

"Go for it Daisy!" taunted Peach.

"Yeah, you're the one who said she wanted everyone on the rollercoaster!" Mario added.

Daisy stomped her foot. "FINE! But who's to say that I won't be happy if I lose!"

"The same goes for me, because I didn't even want Wario at my party anyway…" murmured Toad under his breath.

"I can hear you, twerp…" Wario also muttered under breath. Toad threw up his hands and tried to look innocent.

"Woah! What? _Me?_ No…I'm glad to have you here, you now, with your machismo and everything…"

Waluigi stepped aside and gestured for Daisy to take her turn. She cracked her fingers and gave Waluigi a cold hard stare before beginning. She placed in 5 coins to get started. Waluigi had 30 coins- which wasn't all that much, but losing it all wasn't very fun either, meaning Daisy and toad needed to win 15 coins each. Wario took his huge earnings, a whopping 86 coins, and briefly stepped to the side. Daisy tightened her gloves.

"Let's do this!"

Mario stayed to watch while Peach trotted off for Cotton Candy, popcorn, and maybe a candy apple. All for Mario, of course. Daisy retrieved a scratch card, as Toad explained it was possible to win up to 100 coins from it!

"Don't pick that one! That's a try again! Not that one either- it's only worth 10...OOH THAT ONE! THAT'S THE-"

"WARIO SHUT UP! How can you possibly know that?"

Wario folded his arms and stuck up his huge nose. "Call it a Wario Instinct."

"Oh brother…I'm just going to scratch this one…"

Daisy, hiding a gulp, dramatically started scratching a number in the middle…and won 20 coins.

"Yes! Ha! Take that! I win!"

She threw 15 coins at Waluigi then pocked the remaining 5 for herself.

"HEY! Those are Waluigi's coins!"

"Nuh-uh! You said to win YOUR coins back. These extra 5 are MINE now! Besides, you should be glad to have the privilege of joining us on the rollercoaster adventure…"

Waluigi growled, but then smirked. "Yeah…and at the same time, it's your loss since your stuck with me-"

"DON'T even play that card!"

Wario, on the other hand, took another card and won 100 coins, adding it to his stash and reached for another. Peach had returned with the grub, and Mario ate it all quite eagerly. Toad then stepped up and prepared to take his turn. He was doing the "Lottery Ball Game" rather than just scratching a card. A gold ball was worth 100 coins, red worth 30, blue was worth a mystery mushroom, and white meant that he lost. He gave the machine a good crank…and ended up with a blue ball.

"Looks like Wario isn't coming!" Waluigi tisked. Wario, actually satisfied with his loot, walked over to a saddened Toad and gobbled down the Mega Mushroom he had won.

"Actually, I'll take that as payment…"

Waluigi gaped at Wario as Daisy and Toad slapped a high five.

"Alright! Now let's go get Yoshi next!" Daisy decided.

"We have to slightly backtrack…" Mario said, licking the candy apple.

"Yeah, I know. We have to go over the track again!"

"Oh, I'm losing track of this rather quickly…" Toad groaned.

"Stop getting off track with this!"

"I'll track all of them down…"

"If someone says 'track' again, I'll track them in the back-"

"STOP_ stopstopstop _STOP!" gasped Mario. "I can already see where this one's headed…"

"Where WE'RE headed is to Yoshi, so let's roll!" Daisy called, leading the way. Toad and Waluigi were on her heels, both for different reasons, and Mario, Peach, and Wario were in tow. However, Wario had dropped a few coins as they passed the lever that started the rollercoaster, and when he bent down, he unintentionally bumped the lever. Naturally, he didn't notice, and he scooped up coins and carried on.

"Huh…do you hear something?" Toad asked as they started to cross the track. Everyone stopped and perked their ears up.

"Um…it's like a faint rattling sound, I think…" trailed Peach.

"Yeah, yeah…just what I thought!" replied Daisy. Everyone turned around to see the rollercoaster flying high speed right at them. They screamed and made a run for it.

"What the-! Toad, you said this thing wouldn't try to kill us!" Mario wailed.

"I did! Someone must've hit the switch!" called Toad.

"Uh…where's Wario?" Waluigi asked as they miraculously ran the loop.

"That greedy, food guzzling…_gorilla_! No offense to DK…" Peach huffed. "He must've done it!"

They continued to scream and run until they reached the other side of the midway, allowing the coaster to fly right by.

"Oh great! Now we've lost Wario and we're really far from Yoshi!" Daisy gasped. Toad tugged lightly on her dress.

"Yes, but if it makes you feel better, we're closer to Luigi!"

Daisy slightly perked up.

"Well…okay. I **guess** we can do Luigi. He's going to take a quite a bit of convincing anyway, since he's all terrified of the rollercoaster…"

The walked to the merry-go-round wasn't very far at all, and within moments they found Luigi having a ball simply going around in circles.

"Living the dream…woo hoo!"

"HEY LUIGI!" Daisy blared out, nearly making Luigi jump out of his overalls. "Why are you wasting your time on this ride when you could be on the…rollercoaster!"

"Oh, hi guys…Uh…I was just-"

"Getting ready to come on the rollercoaster with us!" Daisy cried, running over and grabbing Luigi's sleeve.

"Ah! No! I'm afraid of rollercoasters! They go way too fast and way too high-"

"You of all people should not be afraid of height!"

"I didn't say that! Besides, the merry-go-round is a lot safer!"

"Rollercoasters are safe too, ya know!"

"Whoa, whoa…" Toad started, stepping into the conversation. "I think I may be able to help here."

Daisy blinked and took a few steps back while Luigi eyed Toad curiously. He adjusted his bowtie and walked closer to Luigi.

"Luigi, Luigi, Luigi…you like Daisy, right?"

Luigi instantly turned red. "W-Well, yeah but-"

"Would you really want to disappoint such a close friend?" Toad gestured toward Daisy, who put on a pleading look. Luigi instantly squirmed and tried to inch away from Toad.

"Don't play that card Toad!"

Toad shrugged as Waluigi suddenly slithered into the conversation. "All right, I guess Daisy will just have to sit next to me on the rollercoaster, if Luigi won't go…"

Daisy nearly gagged. "Uh,-"

"All right! All right! Fine! I'll go! Just don't put that weasel next to my girl- uh, good friend!"

Toad smirked, Daisy grinned a little, Waluigi scowled at being referred to as a weasel, Luigi jumped off the merry-go-round that he was enjoying, and Peach complained that Mario never said anything romantic like that, to which Mario responded that he was always saving her behind when no one else would.

. . . . . .

"Anyway…if we go down from here, then take a left we should reach DK at the boat ride. The we can go up, get Wario and Yoshi, and then the entry for the rollercoaster shouldn't be too far away," Toad explained once Waluigi was finished glaring at Luigi and Peach at Mario.

"Yes! Then we can all ride…the rollercoaster!" cheered Daisy. A dull hoorah erupted behind her. She turned around and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you guys? That didn't seem very happy!"

"Uh, Daisy…don't hit me…but, well…" Toad struggled to say.

"What?"

"Well, this is a birthday party…don't you think it would be better if everyone had fun in their own way?"

Everyone minus Daisy nodded their heads. Daisy, however, just scoffed.

"It's your birthday, Toad- everyone should be paying attention to you! And getting them all together at the rollercoaster is one way to do it!"

"But Daisy- I just want everyone to have fun here! That's all I really want for my birthday-"

"And we will all have fun- at the rollercoaster!"

Everyone groaned as Daisy started marching off. "Now let's go fetch DK, shall we?"

After walking through the midway quite a ways, they finally found DK, enjoying himself on the boat ride. They could hear him whooping all the way from the Ferris Wheel when they passed it again! Peach glanced over her shoulder at it, sighed, then slightly grinned when she saw the boar ride.

Daisy struck a pose, with an arm raised and a finger pointed in the air as she called, "Okay! Let's get that gorilla-"

"I wanna ride!" cried Peach, scrambling over to climb on.

"Me too! Even though it still looks a bit terrifying…" added Luigi, trailing behind. Mario and Waluigi looked at each other, shrugged, and promptly followed along. Toad almost joined in until Daisy stepped in front of him.

"Good idea! You get on the ride and convince DK to join us!"

Toad looked up at his princess friend. "Don't you think you're taking this a bit too far?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe they actually want to ride rather than force a friend to stop doing what he's doing to benefit you?"

Fire burned in Daisy's eyes as she glared down at Toad who began to shake. "Are you implying that I'm being selfish?"

"What! Me? No, no, I'm just saying that you might be being, um…pushy! Yeah. Just a tad pushy. Nothing else…"

Daisy folded her arms and took a breath. "Maybe I am being a bit rushy…but it'll be worth it in the end. You'll see!"

Toad sighed and stared at the down. "Tomboys…"

Meanwhile, DK had stopped the ride and welcomed everyone with him, then started it up again. Luigi clung tight to Mario, who sat next to Peach, who sat across from Waluigi who sat next to DK. As the boat rocked back and forth, they either screamed because it was scary, or just because it was fun.

"Hmph! They'll scream louder when they go on the rollercoaster!" Daisy snickered.

"Yeah, I guess…" Wario said, walking up with some garlic on a stick.

"Wario! How'd you get here without being chased by the rollercoaster that you started!" Daisy exclaimed. Wario shrugged.

"It was on the other side of the midway when I crossed or something. I grabbed a pretzel-want it?"

"Uh…no…"

Wario blinked then looked up at the boat. "Darn! They got on without me!"

"You wanted to ride too?" Toad asked.

Wario instantly held a fist to Toad's face. "Something wrong with that? I can do fun things too you know-"

Toad grabbed his head and flinched. "Take it easy there! I was just asking!"

Daisy threw up her hands and stormed toward the ride. "This is taking too long! Everyone! Get off the ride so we can find Yoshi and ride the rollercoaster!"

"What if we don't want to?" Waluigi sneered back.

"Just once around! That's all I ask! Then you can run around and hurry and scurry and ignore me all you want! Just one, non harmful little ride!"

DK explained that he actually wouldn't mind a trip on the coaster, which was enough to at least get everyone off the boat ride.

"Okay, we go on the rollercoaster once, but after that you leave us alone!" Mario stated. Daisy nodded while clasping her hands.

"Of course! I just want to show you how fun it can be!"

"Well, let's find the lizard and get this over with before Daisy starts a sob speech…" Wario grunted, starting to waddle in the direction of the rockets.

"…_what _did you say? Don't you dare waddle away from **me** Wario! Come back! Hurry up you guys!"

**Rockets After Daisy gave Wario a Black Eye-**

"Anyone see Yoshi anywhere?" Toad asked, staring at the rockets but not locating their dinosaur friend.

Luigi suddenly saw a flash of green and pointed at the third rocket. "There he is! You can't miss his nose!"

_"Extremeeeeee!"_ Yoshi wailed, hands in the air and flying around as if it was the best day ever.

"HEY YOSHI!" Daisy cried. "You wanna do something really extreme?"

"SURE! What?"

"ROLLERCOASTER!"

"…I already went on it."

Everyone's eyes widened. "What!"

Yoshi awaited for the tide to come to a stop, then fluttered jumped down next to his friend.

"Uh, yeah…I think you guys were at the merry-go-round when I got on. That coaster is actually pretty awesome!"

Daisy frowned. "So I guess you don't want to ride it again, huh?"

"Nah, I might as well go since we're all here! EXTREME!"

Daisy perked up instantly. "Woo-hoo! Now we can finally ride…the rollercoaster! YES!"

"Thank goodness…" sighed Peach. "After this I think I might need to fetch Toad his birthday cake!"

Toad laughed. "Wow! I briefly forgot it was even my birthday!"

"Rollercoaster! Uh huh, uh huh. Oh yeah! COASTER!"

**Rollercoaster, a few paces later-**

Daisy was excitedly hopping up and down while Toad prepared the coaster itself. There were two coasters, actually- one for one person, and then there was one that could hold all of them.

"This…will…be…so…COOL!" she erupted, unable to contain her happiness.

"Calm down, Daisy…it's just a ride!" Toad chuckled as the cars pulled in. Daisy and Yoshi instantly jumped in the front car, with Wario and Waluigi, Peach and Toad, and Mario and Luigi sitting in the latter cars- Luigi unfortunately in the one in the back.

"Oh boy…" Luigi whimpered, gripping onto the bar. Mario just sighed.

"You'll be fine Luigi. I assure you!" Daisy called over her shoulder. Luigi instantly let go of the bars and claimed in a cool voice, "I don't even need to hang on."

"Whatever you say…" Mario snickered, reaching over and pulling the lever. The moment the cars moved, Luigi flew forward and grabbed the bar again.

"Here we go, here we go, here we go…"

The coaster suddenly started to gain speed, wind whipping Daisy and Yoshi in the face. It jerked to the left and to the right, did a loop, jerked some more, then took a small dive. It was over. Daisy's jaw was dropped.

"The most exciting part was the loop, but it's better when you're by yourself…" Yoshi stated, stepping off and headed for the Ferris Wheel.

"We went through all that for this cheap tourist attraction?" Waluigi complained. "At least the boat ride was fun…but that was the worst rollercoaster ride ever!"

"Talk about harsh…" Peach growled to Waluigi as she climbed out, Mario helping her.

"Bah, I don't care…I'm going back to gamble! You with me, Wario?"

Wario shook his head and attempted to hobble off toward the closest bathroom and/or trash can. Waluigi cringed and started stalking off. Luigi, however, seemed to be the only one that was thrilled.

"Cool! That coaster wasn't that terrifying after all! I think I'll even ride it again!"

The green plumber jumped in the front spot, so Toad shrugged and let him have another go at it. Mario and Peach disappeared for a slow ride on the merry-go-round, leaving a shocked Daisy and Toad with a slight, "I told you so" face.

. . . .

"Man, Toad, I guess I really did blow it this time…" Daisy sighed, sitting on a hill next to Toad, overlooking everyone riding the rides- and gambling.

"I'm just sorry the coaster wasn't more fun…I guess I blew that…" Toad sighed.

Daisy blinked and turned to Toad. "Don't go blaming yourself for that! That doesn't mater. What does matter is that I ignored my friends' wishes just to fulfill mine, and everyone ended up unhappy. Because of me."

Toad jumped up and shook his head. "That's not true at all! Mario and Peach, Luigi, Yoshi, DK and Wario and Waluigi…they're all having fun now! The only one not having any fun is you!"

"Maybe all the fun I need is just sitting next to you, celebrating your birthday."

"You mean that?"

Daisy nodded. "Mm-hm! After all, maybe I'm not all that of a midway person anyway…"

"Yeah, midways aren't as…extreme as amusement parks anyway," Toad agreed. As they sat there in silence, DK and Peach suddenly came walking up with a banana cake with Toad's face on it.

"I told you this was what I was going to do!" Peach giggled.

"It looks delicious Peach!"

"Thanks- DK supplied me with the ingredients!"

DK gave a wide gorilla grin, to which Toad thanked too. Daisy bent down and placed her hands on Toad's shoulders.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Blow out the candles!"

"I don't know why- I've already got my wish!"

Daisy smirked. "Happy Birthday Toad. Glad you got your wish after all- and that makes me happy."

Toad broke out into a wide smile, and then as custom, blew out his candles.

* * *

**It veered a bit differently from my real vision, but I s'pose it's all right. :) But that's sort of up to you though... and the next one is the first "tale" I've written with the plot already done in advance. The rest have been completely out on a wing xD**


	5. Act 1, Episode 5

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 5: Toy Dream

"Toad? TOAD!" Peach called, walking down the halls of her massive castle, looking for her lead Mushroom Retainer. She hadn't seen him all day, and it was making her worry. Toad at least stopped by to say hi once or twice, even when he was really busy. The princess poked her head into every room; meetings, dining room, bathroom (by pure accident), and even the main entry hall…but no Toad. "Sigh…where is he?"

Then, as she pondered silently, she heard a light "Choo choo!" coming from the upper hall, and Peach happened to be next to the stairs. Picking up her dress and climbing up the steps, she smacked her head when she realized she completely ignored the one place Toad most likely was- in his own bedroom. However, the "Choo choo" WAS coming from his room, and Peach almost thought he was sneezing- if the sound hadn't sounded pleasant. She lightly knocked on the ajar door, poked her head in and said, "Toad?"

The toad was sitting on the floor, back turned away from Peach, and he jumped when he heard her voice.

"Oh! Uh, um, h-hi Princess Peach…" he stammered, not daring to turn around.

"I've been looking all over for you! Have you been in here all day?"

"Um, yeah…I was just…occupied by something, that's all."

Peach gave a nod. "Oh. I see…" She then hid a smirk. "Well, while I was looking for you, I heard a pretty peppy "Choo choo" for some unknown reason…and it just so happened to come from this room!"

Toad gasped and started to cringe. "Hm, well, THAT'S certainly a coincidence, eh?"

Peach now fully entered the room, arms folded and expression donning a playful grin. "Toad, you weren't by any chance playing with a toy train all day, we're you?"

Toad gulped and fiddled with the small toy he was clutching. "M-Maybe…"

He placed it on the ground so Peach could see. It was painted a bold red and blue, with green wheels and it even had a small track to go with it. Toad finally turned around, and Peach realized he was blushing.

"I know, I know…I probably shouldn't be playing with a toy, but look at it! It's just so colorful and entertaining…and fun!"

Peach gave a light laugh and sat on the floor next to Toad. "It's okay to be a child for a little while Toad. Life gets so boring when you grow up, you know…and just between you and me…"

She suddenly pulled out a small doll that greatly resembled her and chuckled.

"I've got a toy too."

Toad grinned and said, "Cool! Does she have a name?"

Peach sweat dropped. "Uh…Mini Peachy…I wasn't really thinking that day…"

"Oh well." Toad shrugged and placed "Mini Peachy" on his train and pushed her around. "See, this train can carry passengers and cargo and it even has a whistle, but I like to do the choo choo…"

They laughed and started playing around-if anyone else was around, it would certainly count as immature- but they didn't care. The two were so caught up in their new game that they screamed in fear when Luigi suddenly ran through the door, tripped, and tumbled into the wall.

"Get…him…away from me!" the frantic plumber gasped. Peach and Toad just froze, gaping at Luigi while holding their respective toys. "Uh…"

"What're you doing here, Luigi?" Peach questioned. "It's not like you to just barge in like that- even when you're terrified!"

"Which is quite often…" muttered Toad, continuing to push the train down the track.

"I…I know but…Boo…need a vacuum…" Luigi wheezed, still upside down after colliding with the wall. A sudden high-pitch cackle echoed through the room, and Boo returned to visibility.

"Gwee hee hee hee! Luigi is such a sucker!" he chortled. "Sorry man, but I just love scaring you! Be happy I'm not King Boo!"

Luigi gave a look to Peach. "Are you sure I can't borrow the vacuum cleaner?"

"No Luigi. Boo is one of the only Boos who isn't on Bowser's side, and I'd like to keep it like that, if you don't mind…" Peach retorted. Boo saw her patting the doll and quickly flew over.

"Whoa! Is THAT a doll?" he gasped, as if he'd never seen one before.

"Well, yes actually but-"

"Sweet! Maybe she can play with my toy soldier!"

"You have a toy solider?" Toad guffawed. Boo folded his arms and stuck up what was supposedly a nose.

"Yes. Doesn't everyone have some favorite toy lying around? I just so happen to enjoy toy soldiers. IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT?"

"N-no…just curious…"

Luigi laughed and finally turned himself right side up. "Your guys' toy are nothing compared to my awesome TOY ROBOT!"

He pulled said toy robot out of his cap, and while the other three were pondering why in the world he had it, let alone under his cap, he placed it on the ground and winded it up.

"Beep. Boop."

It walked in front of "Mini Peachy" and took a bow, then turned to Boo's solider and aimed a non-lethal laser. The soldier toppled over, and Boo glared at Luigi. Luigi just struck a small pose.

"Innit cool, or what?"

"Uh, yeah it is Luigi…" Peach trailed. "…but why is Mario's insignia on the back of it?"

Luigi's face fell as Toad gestured to the unmissable mark. It was highly visible, now that the robot had tripped over the soldier and revealed the truth.

"Okay…so maybe the robot is Mario's…_and I took it without permission…_but my real toy is just a stupid boat."

Boo cracked up at that while Peach asked to see the boat. Luigi sighed and sat down with them, showing them the blue and white sailboat.

"I also have a space ship, but its broken…and now I have this boat. That's only effective in the water."

Toad shook his head, and placed Boo's soldier onto the boat and made it "float on water". Boo's laughter lowered to a genuine smile, and Peach and Luigi went to try out Toad's train. Then, the boat and the train had a race, while the soldier saved the doll from an "evil menace robot".

"Hahaha! Okay, okay, now the robot can try to take over the train!" laughed Toad. Luigi grabbed the robot and turned on its laser, but the soldier suddenly flew up from nowhere and blocked the attack. Boo snickered as Luigi sulked.

"What time is it now?" Peach wondered, since Toad's room didn't have a clock. "How long have we been playing?"

Luigi stood up to look out the window, only to realize it was nighttime.

"Aw…now I have to walk home in the dark!" he complained. Peach shook her head.

"Not necessarily. I don't mind you staying in the castle, really." Peach then gave a look to Boo. "And you- don't you dare scare him during the night. With his high-pitched scream, the guards might mistake him for me…"

Boo picked up his toy and folded his arms again. "All right, all right…no scaring Luigi…"

He went invisible, only to reappear behind Toad. "Can I scare him though?"

"Yargh!"

Toad was in Peach's arms within second of his scream. Peach narrowed her eyes at Boo and flatly stated, "No."

. . .

The next day, when Toad woke up, he instantly knew something was off. First of all, he was not in his room. Second, his choo choo train was driving around the blue track- by itself, and it was ten times larger than it usual was AND a different color. And third, Peach, Luigi, and Boo were looking around and wondering the same thing.

"It's so bizarre…" Luigi trailed. "It's like we're in Toy Land, or something! There's Toad's train, there's Mario's robot…over there is my broken rocket, and there's two of Boo's soldiers!"

"And they have a cannon! I was meaning to buy one, but now I don't have to!" Boo cried excitedly.

"We're not touching anything until we know just what is happening," muttered Peach. Toad pushed the lid off the present- somehow he ended up sleeping in a gift, and headed over to his friends.

"Um…what's going on?" he murmured, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Toad? You're here too?"

"Well, to fill you in, we're in Toy Land!" exclaimed Luigi.

"Seems more like a Toy Dream to me…"

"Well, maybe, but how could we possibly have the same dream?"

"It's possible."

"We're all awake though!" Peach protested. "I mean, we're seeing it, and we're definitely believing it, right?"

Boo started chewing a random gumball he found and turned to the group. "Maybe…nom we should just have fun…chew chew…while we're here, huh?"

"Yeah! We can play with toys and we won't have to worry who sees us or not!" cheered Luigi.

"But…I don't see my doll…" Peach pondered. "How come all of your toys are here, but not my doll?"

"That's because I have it!" a fifth voice bellowed, cackling madly. All heads looked up to see Koopa Kid clutching "Mini Peachy" in one hand, and a toy version of Bowser in the other. He threw the Mecha Bowser up into the air, and it magically grew ten times its size and landed at a certain section of the "toy dream", ready to bite down on whoever dared to cross its path.

"You'd better give me back my doll!" Peach yelled while shaking a fist. 'If you don't, you're gonna pay!"

"How's he even here?" Luigi wondered absently.

Koopa Kid ignored both comments and held out the doll. "You want this doll back? Huh? Well, this is a toy paradise- you'll have to play one of my games!"

He jumped up and split into three- Red Koopa Kid, Blue Koopa Kid, and Green Koopa Kid.

"If you can catch up to the Koopa Kid who has your doll, then maybe I'll give it back!"

"You didn't even give us a hint!" complained Luigi.

The blue kid snickered. "You'll never get the doll back!"

"Yeah, because you'll never catch the right Koopa Kid!" chortled Green. They chuckled to themselves before scattering. Peach just fumed while Toad thought up a strategy.

"That kid better not damage a thread on Mini Peachy's dress or I'll-"

"Wait, you named her _Mini Peachy?" _Luigi and Boo asked at the same time. Peach gave an obvious nod and glanced down at Toad.

"Any ideas, Toad?"

"Well, we could split up, either into two teams of two to go after two of the kids, then rejoin and follow the third if necessary, or we just spilt up into three groups, with only one group having two people…"

"But we don't even know our way around!" Luigi protested. "…and if we were to split up, what would the teams be?"

"Me and Toad!" Peach shrieked, grabbing Toad protectively. Boo smirked at Luigi. Luigi yelped.

"B-But why can't you be with me, Peach? Or you can be with Boo and I'll just take Toad-"

"It's settled. You're my buddy!" Boo cried. Luigi winced.

"All right then! Toad and I will go left, you and Boo go right!"

"Good luck!" Toad called, running ahead, "Have fun too!"

Luigi gave a weak wave in return. "Uh huh…"

Boo let out his cackle then dragged Luigi off.

. . .

Red laughed evilly to himself, being perched at the top of the 'toy dream'.

"I'm so going to win this game! And when I do, they'll be so confused and dazed and I'll just love it!"

He glanced down, seeing Peach and Toad headed for Blue and Luigi and Boo going toward Green. Red just snickered again and rushed off.

. . .

Peach and Toad hadn't walked far from where they had started, walking by a boat in the water. It wasn't like Luigi's boat, but it was colored quite similarly. Toad gave a small smile at the little thing, until Peach called for him to hurry up.

"What's the rush Princess?" Toad asked. "It's a toy invested place full of fun! And I was just staring at the boat…"

"I know, but…is it weird to be worried about a doll?"

"It's not weird to be worried about anything you care about!"

"But it's just a simple toy…"

Toad shrugged. "Is that really important?"

Peach didn't get to answer, because Toad's train suddenly pulled up. It stopped at the small station next to them, and waited for them to climb on. Peach was just going to walk away, but toad got all excited and started jumping around.

"Oh Peach! Can we ride my train? It'd be soooo cool! I've always wanted to, but obviously I was too big and now I'm not!"

"My doll-"

"It's only one time around, Peach! Pleeeeaaaase!" Toad begged, making his eyes really big and gave a pleading look. Peach softened up and sighed.

"Well…maybe it could be to our advantage…"

Toad cried out in a sporadic "YES!" and dragged Peach onto the ride. Peach gave a light giggle and went next to Toad.

"Choo choo!"

With Toad's words, The train moved forward, going down a small slope before climbing up onto the main part of the track. Toad was bobbing up and down with excitement, and Peach glanced over the edge. They were right above the Mecha Bowser the original Koopa Kid had placed, and Peach was almost afraid to find out what it did. When they reached the top, the train gave them the option to get off, but Toad kept trying to push the engine forward more and crying, "All the way!"

"Toad, Toad…" Peach sighed in amusement. Toad gave her a grin, and the train started off again. It sped down the other side of the track, the duo throwing their hands in the air and cheering. They happened to pass Luigi and Boo, who were crossing an orange bridge that went over the track, and waved as they left. Luigi folded his arms and grumbled to himself.

"Hmph…they're happily riding a train and I'm stuck with a guy who's trying to scare the living lights out of me!"

"It's not so bad!" Boo all but shrieked by Luigi's ear. Luigi yelped and covered his ears with hit hat as Boo started laughing-again. "Ah, Luigi, you're so amusing…"

"Grah!"

Luigi just glared at Boo as they carried on with their search. Boo was already thinking up more simple scare tactics, Luigi could tell.

Meanwhile, Toad and Peach pulled back into the lower station, and Toad scurried out.

"Fun, fun, fun!"

"I'm glad you had fun…but now it's back to seriously looking for my doll."

"Okay, okay…"

They continued down their original path, crossing a green bridge similar to the orange one Luigi and Boo were on. And the Mecha Bowser was up ahead, not even 4 steps away. Peach froze at the sight of the toy version of her enemy while Toad, blissfully unaware, climbed into the Mecha's mouth.

"Come on Peach! And you were telling me to hurry!" Toad laughed. Peach ran for Toad screaming, "Move! Move!"

"Huh?"

The Mecha Bowser's mouth clamped shut, and the Blue Koopa Kid appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, well, well, looks like you found me!"

"You better free Toad, you brat!" the princess demanded. Blue Kid just shrugged and put on a sly grin.

"I dunno…I might think about it…"

"Let Toad go and give me my doll too!"

Peach ran at the blue Koopa Kid, but he shook his head.

"Sorry! I'm not the one who has it!" he sang. Blue Koopa then gave a toothy grin. "Okay. I'll let your friend go now…"

Peach jerked to a stop and looked up. The mouth of the Mecha had transformed into a cannon, and Toad was inside.

"What! No!"

"Peach! Help m-EEEEEEEEE!"

The cannon blasted Toad away from Peach, and before she could get her hands on the blue Koopa Kid, he just…vanished. Poof. Into thin air. Both he and Toad were gone, and Peach wasn't sure what to do now.

. . .

Luigi's eye was constantly twitching. Because of Boo's antics of trying make Luigi pee his pants, they hadn't made any progress at all. Luigi was lucky he'd been able to take three steps! Finally, he couldn't take it and grabbed Boo, who was trying to reappear behind Luigi again.

"Don't you think it's time to get serious?" Luigi stated firmly. "The princess' doll is in danger, and you're too busy trying to pull pranks on me!"

"Well I don't care about a doll-I wanna have fun!" Boo protested, taking another piece of gum from a nearby gumball machine. Luigi smacked his head and sighed.

"Boo…honestly?"

Boo just ignored Luigi and kept trying to stuff his face full of gum. Luigi just hung his head…until he was suddenly blasted with magic shapes. Luigi was cast to the side, and Boo started laughing, until he saw the blue Magikoopa who had done it.

"Who do you think you are! Luigi is MY victim!"

"Huh-?"

The Magikoopa just laughed and aimed his wand at Boo. "I don't care who belongs to who! I work for Koopa Kid, and he hired me to hinder your progress! Which is just what I plan to do!"

"Can't you cut us slack?" Luigi whined. "Boo's already doing a good job of hindering our progress!"

"YEAH- wait, what?"

The wizard ignored Luigi's pleas and aimed his wand at Boo.

"Whoa! What're you-"

"Swaparee! Swaparoo!"

Before Luigi's very eyes, Boo had vanished into thin air, and was replaced with a very distraught looking Princess Peach. The two stared at each other as the Magikoopa just cackled and left.

"Luigi…what happened? Where's Boo?" Peach asked.

"That Magikoopa just swapped you two, so wherever he is now is where you were…" explained Luigi.

Peach gasped and tried to see if she could she where she was. "Oh, I hope Boo finds Toad…"

Luigi did a double take. "What happened to Toad?"

"He pushed me out of the way of the Mecha Bowser toy! The mouth closed…it transformed into a cannon, and Toad was shot to I don't know where! Aaahhh…"

"Well, maybe we'll find him," Luigi assured, comforting Peach. "But we're still on the hunt for your doll, remember? Maybe if we find a Koopa Kid, we'll be able to find both!"

"Okay…Toad and I already found the blue one, but he didn't have my doll, and he was the one who shot Toad away too…"

"Well, if we get to hurrying, we'll be able to make some progress!" Luigi suggested. "And now with Boo not here, I can actually get something done!"

**Meanwhile-**

"Cough, cough…well, that was unexpected…" Boo mumbled, taking note of his surroundings. "But if I really just swapped with Peach, then where's that Toad guy?"

He spun around rapidly, looking around for any sign of Toad, but there was none.

"If you want something done, you have to do it yourself…"

He floated past the Mecha Bowser, which seemed a lot more menacing up close and personal, and hovered up a later and onto the wall of blocks.

"Wow… you can see quite a lot from here!" he then looked down and broke into a grin. "Hey! There's my toy soldiers with that awesome cannon accessory!"

The soldiers suddenly came to life, one loading the cannon and the other lighting the fuse.

"Cool! Now they're going to blast it! Wait…aren't I in the line of fire?"

A cannonball shot out of the cannon, going flying into the center of the block wall, and bringing poor Boo down along with it.

"No! My action figures! Why have you betrayed me?"

Boo fell to a lower level of the dream- and unknown to him, right about where Toad was…

**Meanwhile-**

Peach and Luigi braved the dangers that toy could possess, and had come to a fork in the road. One being a path of caged animals, and the other containing a toy car and Mario's robot. It was no contest to see which path they would take.

"Are you sure we took the right way?" Luigi asked, staring up at Mario's robot that he once held in his hands.

"Of course! Anything that's Mario related must be right!" Peach replied. "It's a sign or something!"

She turned and grinned at the robot, only for Luigi to push her out of the way of a laser it shot. The duo looked up to see the Green Koopa Kid jump out and start snickering.

"So! You've reached me after all, huh?" he cackled. Peach nearly threw Luigi to the ground to get him out of the way as she stood up, anger taking over.

"That's right, you little…brat! And I bet you're the kid who has Mini Peachy! So give her back!"

"Oh gee, I would if I could, but…I don't have it either! Nyah nyah!"

Peach froze; Luigi groaned, "Of COURSE…"

. . . . .

"I sure hope Peach is doing fine…" mused Toad, walking by tons of packages presents that were ten times the size he was. He climbed past another, fretting for Peach's safety. "Oh, I feel like Toadsworth…I hope Peach is fine by herself! Oh dear…"

He climbed onto a tall package, just to get a better look around, and hopefully maybe able to spot Peach. Instead, this caused a jack-in-the-box to pop out (also effectively making Toad scream) and sent the unsuspecting toad flying…and landed right on Boo.

"You're lucky I'm a ghost you no good- TOAD?" Boo guffawed.

"Boo?" Toad asked. "That's awfully convenient…what are you doing here? Where's Luigi?"

"He's back at our side of the dream," Boo explained. "Apparently Koopa Kid summoned a Magikoopa to swap me and Peach, so now I'm assuming Peach is with Luigi…"

Toad sighed in relief. "Thank gosh she's not alone-"

"HELLO? I WAS ALONE!"

"Not anymore! You're with me!" Toad exclaimed. Boo pouted and folded his arms. "Now, if we keep going in this direction, we might run into them…"

"HEY!"

"…what?"

"What about the Koopa Kids? I take it you found one, because you ended up here…and me and Luigi were on another's trail…Imma thinking we should go find the third one."

"I think we should find Peach and Luigi first."

"Koopa Kid."

"Peach and Luigi."

"Koopa Kid!"

"Peach and Luigi!"

"KOOPA!"

"PEACH!"

"KID!"

"LUIGI!"

. . . . .

Luigi was still cowering in fear, Peach was still in shock, and the Green Koopa Kid was still laughing his head off. Peach finally shook it off and her menacing glare returned.

"So if you don't have it, and the blue Koopa Kid doesn't have it…then the red one must have it!" Peach exclaimed. Green Koopa Kid rolled his eyes.

"Yeah...you believe that!"

He cackled again, blasted another laser, and was gone. Peach and Luigi both turned away from the blast, then exchanged glances.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Luigi asked.

"I don't know…but something tells me it might be important…" the princess then looked toward the top of the Toy Dream. "The only place we haven't searched yet is the top…I bet that's where the Red Koopa Kid and my doll are!"

Luigi gulped. "We're still going?"

"Yes, of course! I want my doll back! And who knows- it may get us closer to Toad and Boo if we keep moving!"

"If you say so Princess…we've basically got nothing to lose anyway."

Peach straightened out a wrinkled part of her dress and instantly started marching toward the top, Luigi giving Mario's robot one last glance before scurrying after her.

. . .

"Kid…"

"The others…"

"We're not getting anywhere…"

"No, not really…"

Boo and Toad were still going at it, but at this moment, they really couldn't strain their voices anymore. Boo even couldn't scream anymore and collapsed on the ground. Toad leaned on a nearby block.

"Okay…so now what? Who knows where Peach and Luigi have gone to after all this time!"

"Perhaps we should try to go to the top…that's the only place we haven't been yet…" boo wheezed.

"Hey, Boo?"

"What?"

"I've always wondered- since you're a ghost, and you have no voice box, how do you speak?"

"Funny you should ask! It's quite interesting really-"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"Ugh! How DARE you interrupt me!"

"No…look down there, quick!"

Toad suddenly ran over to the edge of their part of the dream, Boo floating afterwards. Looking down, they saw Peach and Luigi slowly and cautiously pass below them. Toad and Boo started shouting, but either Peach and Luigi were too far away, or their voices were really sore, but the lower duo didn't respond. Toad snapped him fingers.

"Great. Now what?"

Boo pondered this for a moment. Suddenly it was like a rightful lit up in his head as he jetted off somewhere behind Toad. As Toad grieved in agony at the thought of letting his friends go by he heard grunting in the background.

"Boo? What in the world are you doing?"

"I'm going to get their attention!"

Toad's eyes were the size of saucers as Boo attempted to push his toy soldier's cannon toward the edge.

"Are you trying to get their attention or them _killed?"_

"I'm not going to _hit _them…just cause a disturbance so they look up here! I'm not exactly buff you know- help me!"

Toad sweat dropped and walked over to help. Boy, was the cannon ever heavy! But somehow, the transparent Boo and somewhat weak Toad managed to turn the cannon around and aim it at the lower part of the area.

Toad wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Jeez that was a work out. Now how do we light it?"

Boo smirked and raised his eyebrows a few times. "like…this!"

He took the match from hi soldier's hand, struck it on a wood block, lit it up, then ignited the fuse. Toad yelped and backed away instantly while Boo found it hilarious and just laughed. Seconds later, a cannonball shot out and made contact with a box right next to Peach and Luigi. Luigi cried bloody murder and jumped in Peach's arms while Peach just blinked and said, "What caused that?"

"I-I thinking I-it came from up there…" Luigi trembled. "And it was trying to kill us!"

"Up whe-" Peach glanced up and saw a nervous toad and proud looking Boo waving. "Aaaah! Toad! Boo! TOAD!"

She dropped Luigi ("Ow! My spine!") and instantly waved back.

"Look Luigi! It's Toad and Boo!" she then tried shouting up there. "How did you guys get up there?"

"Just open the pink present- the one next to the one Boo hit!" Toad explained. Peach noticed the round pink present and pointed.

"This one?"

"Yeah!"

Luigi scrambled off his feet and was by Peach's side within the next second. "If it's all the same, I think I'll open…I've gotta redeem myself you know…"

Boo rolled his eyes. "All I have to do is go down there and tap his shoulder and he'd cry for his mom!"

"I WOULD NOT- I'm just going to open the box…"

Luigi lifted the lid off the box…then went flying into the air while screaming himself silly…and also landed on Boo.

"Am I like a target or something? You people are lucky I'm semi-transparent!"

"At least I'm up here…"

"Hooray?"

"My turn!" Peach cried, opening the box. When she went spiraling into the air, however, she flat-out cheered, then pulled out here umbrella for a smoother landing. Once she was on the ground again, the princess tackled Toad in a hug.

"Oh Toad! I was so worried about you! When you were attacked by that mecha Bowser- I'm just glad you're okay!"

"The same can be said for me, Peach!" Toad said with a smile.

Bow sniffled and went, "Awwwww…" then glared at Luigi. "How come you're not happy to see me, HUH?"

"I'm NEVER happy to see you, to be frank, and every time I do see you, I'm usually screaming my head off thank you very much."

"…harsh dude. You know, I have feelings-"

"Aw, now you're going to make me feel guilty!"

Peach then let go of Toad and gasped. "Eek! I remembered! The Red Koopa Kid has my doll because the Blue and Green kids didn't!"

"And we've discovered that only place we haven't been yet-" started Boo.

"-is the top-" added Luigi.

"-where the Red Koopa Kid must be!" finished Toad while jumping happily into the air.

Peach clapped her hands. "Precisely! Now let's go save mini Peachy!"

Everyone got quiet until Boo spoke.

"Wow that name isn't cool at all…"

Peach made a face.

. . .

When they reached the top, they weren't surprised to see the Red Koopa kid waiting inside the "clock tower train station" for them. Peach wasted no time in stepping on over and holding out her hand.

"I'll be taking my doll now, mister!" she said sharply. "And I know you have it because your…other parts didn't!"

Red Koopa kid blinked then broke down laughing. "Hahahahaha! Guess what suckers? I don't have it either! I'm not the koopa kid who has it! Tough luck! HA!"

Peach's confidence shattered as Luigi, Boo, and Toad gasped.

"What do you mean you don't have it?" Luigi asked.

"I don't have it! See?" he held his hands up and out, showing that there was no doll. Peach's eyes then twitched and next thing you knew- she was rapidly beating on the koopa kid.

"I BET YOU'VE GOT IT HIDDEN SOMEWHERE, BRAT!"

"Peach, calm down-"

"I WANT MINI PEACHY!"

Red Koopa Kid pounded the ground saying that he honestly didn't have it, and no one knew what to do until Toad's eyes lit up.

"Wait a minute…we in a dream after all!"

Everyone froze as they glanced down at Toad.

"Huh?" Luigi, Koopa Kid, and Boo all questioned.

"Have you ever seen Koopa Kid split himself into three before? Yes, there's more than one Koopa Kid, but it's impossible for them to clone themselves…"

"So…this _is_ a Toy Dream?" Peach asked. Toad nodded.

"Yup. And since this is a dream…"

Red Koopa Kid was suddenly lifted into the air shouting, "Hey! What's going on?"

"…we can change it!"

Blue and Green Koopa Kid suddenly arrived, and they and the Red Koopa Kid began to spin around until they became one again. Toad smirked a little as the original Koopa Kid fell to the ground, bounced on the floor, and Mini Peachy rolled out of his clutches. Neither Red, Blue or Green has the doll- the original Koopa Kid had it the whole time.

"Mini Peachy!" Peach cried, rushing over and hugging her doll. "She's okay!"

"Well then, this dream has a happy ending, if we ARE in a dream…" Luigi trailed. "Jeez, that's a weird concept. Figuring out you're in a dream. Huh."

Peach skipped over to Toad and hugged him once again. "If it wasn't for you Toad, we wouldn't have found Mini Peachy! Though…I suppose it's not real, huh?"

Toad shook his head. "No…and the weirder part is, we're not real either…"

"Then I think it's time someone woke up, because I don't want to be stuck in this dream any longer…" Luigi murmured.

"BOO!"

…

"AUUGH! BOO! QUIT SCARING ME!" Luigi shouted, quickly sitting up in the bed. He blinked and looked outside- it was the crack of dawn! And odder…his loud wail hadn't woken anyone up. But…wow, that scare boo gave him at the last moment sure did feel real!

"Morning Luigi!" Boo cackled, appearing in front of Luigi with a terrifying mask. Luigi started screaming and hid under his blanket.

…

"…ah, what a great dream…" Boo said with a yawn, waking up from his grand dream of scaring Luigi after they were stuck in a toy-themed world. He glanced out the window- ugh, morning. The worst part of the day. He was going to sleep in until noon. Getting snug under the covers of a bed that he really didn't even need, Boo fell back asleep.

What he didn't know was that his toy soldiers had dropped to the floor, next to a toy cannon aimed at a pile of fallen blocks. They were standing next to the toy robot, who was shooting at a Mecha Bowser toy.

And Mini Peachy was somehow riding around in Toad's toy train.

* * *

**I finished this at midnight. And then as I tried to edit it, my computer froze. So I went to bed. And no- not every tale from Mario Party 5 will have the characters be like, "OMG! We're in a dream?" No. I'm going to at least try to mix it up a bit for future ones. ^^**


	6. Act 1, Episode 6

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 6: Towering Treetop

"Wow, Toad…" Toadette sighed in the tent, sitting just beside the lake. "I can't believe you managed to pull off a trip to Towering Treetop, just for me!"

Toad gave a casual shrug in response, lying on his back and facing the roof of their little shelter. "It's the least I could do! After all, you've been so obsessed with the Towering Treetop lately…"

"Well, who wouldn't?" Toadette reached for a blue book with a green circle on the front and flipped to her destined page almost instantly. "It's one of the biggest trees in the Mushroom Kingdom, and there are a lot of big trees, you know?"

Toad nodded and allowed her to continue- once Toadette got into eco topics, there was no stopping her.

"It's such a great place to be too! A refreshing lake just behind it, a scenic view…and not to mention the feeling of being at the very top! They made it so it's very easy to climb the tree, you know. Ladders, bridges, and even a slide to get back down from! Sounds fun, huh Toad?"

"Yup…"

"Can we climb the tree tomorrow? Please?"

Now Toad was in an upright position, eyes gaping at Toadette. "Wh-What? That tree is huge! It'd take us a full day or two just to get to the top and back down again! Not to mention how ridiculously short the days and nights are in this area…"

"Oh, it's not that big!" scoffed Toadette. "Besides, it'll be fun! Then I can have a full experience of being at Towering Treetop…"

"…well, all right Toadette. I suppose it would be pointless if you camped out at a landmark tree and didn't bother to climb it. As long as it makes you happy-"

Toadette had tackled Toad in a hug before he had even finished his sentence. "Thank you, Toad! Oh, you don't know how much this means to me!"

Toadette's enthusiasm made Toad's day- despite the fact the sun had set quite awhile ago. The reason Toad had even set all of this up was just for Toadette to be happy, and impress her to some extent. She loved nature so much, yet hardly got to be around it, so what was the harm in a small vacation?

The next time Toad glanced at Toadette, she had curled up in her sleeping bag and nodding off. It was plain to see that she wanted to be well-rested for tomorrow. Toad wasn't the slightest bit tired, however, so he stuck his head out the door of the tent and stared up into the night sky.

"Sure is a nice night…"

His mind wandered into everything Toadette would probably talk about tomorrow- why the tree itself was so big, why it had a face (thought that wasn't out of the ordinary), why the flowers were almost as tall as the tree itself, and any other little facts she could whip out. Though he never really admitted it, Toad was somewhat jealous of Toadette's extensive knowledge on nature. She probably knew more about it than anyone else.

"Man…what I would give to be on Toadette's level," Toad mumbled. "She's been so into it lately that I think she pays more attention to it than me…"

He glanced back up into the sky, and to his very shock, something bright was streaking across the sky. Toad's eyes widened- holy crow, was that way too convenient of a shooting star? He scrambled outside, being extra careful not to rattle the tent and wake Toadette up. Instantly after, he had his eyes closed and started to make a wish.

"Please randomly appearing star…I wish that I could impress Toadette tomorrow. I enjoy seeing her happy…but I also like when she's happy because of me. And I feel like I'm not really noticed by her anymore…"

When Toad opened his eyes said star was headed right for him.

"What in the world? !"

"I've got it! It's mine!" a high-pitched crackly voice called out, soaring over the now-cowering Toad and intercepting the Star.

"That belongs to Waluigi!" a second voice shouted, the owner of this one leaping over Toad like a hurdle.

"The heck?"

Toad looked up- Boo, who was clutching the Star with his life, while the wily Waluigi chased him into the night. Utterly confused, Toad followed after them, wondering what this was all about. Waluigi went in to tackle Boo, but thanks to Boo being, well, a Boo, he went right through him.

"Nyeah heh heh heh!"

Waluigi growled and jump at Boo from a different direction, this time striking the Star dead on. Boo cried out in agony and thwacked Waluigi on the head.

"You idiot! You know just as well as I do that this is MY Star!" he screeched. "Stop trying to steal it!"

"I was not! Everyone knows everything good belongs to ME!" Waluigi protested with his fake logic.

"If you and your butterfingers weren't try to steal it-"

"Butterfingers? How DARE you! How can you even hold things- you're a GHOST!"

"I have my ways, now hand it over!"

"What are you guys doing?" screamed Toad, completely lost by this sudden encounter. Waluigi and Boo, who had been unaware of the third presence, quickly glanced down at him.

"What're you doing here?" Waluigi sneered.

"I could ask you two the same thing!" Toad shot back, standing his ground.

"This low-life was trying to get his grubby hands on my Star. Instead, he ended up throwing it off the edge of the tree!" Boo complained. "So we came down to get it…"

"Why do you even have a Star in the first place anyway, Boo?" Toad asked. Boo growled and got up in Toad's face.

"I just HAVE one okay? It's not like I'm going to do anything with it- I just like the shininess."

"Well, if you have no plans, then I'll just take this baby for a spin!" cried a fourth voice, dashing in and snagging the Star out of Waluigi's grasp. "One of you morons could've grabbed it during that explanation, you know."

Waluigi instantly cried out in agony. "WAH! ? No, my Star!"

"YOUR Star-" Boo began.

"Koopa Kid…" grumbled Toad, the only one to at least take note of the thief. Upon hearing his name, Koopa Kid stopped and turned around, but grinned snarkily and spun the Star in the palm of his hand.

"Ha ha ha ha! With the power of this Star, I can do just about anything I want! And right now I'm in the mood to burn this stupid old tree down!" Koopa Kid cried.

"No! You can't!" Toad cried. Koopa Kid snickered otherwise.

"And why not?"

"Because-"

"Hey wait a second!" Boo blurted out and interrupted. "What kind of a plan is this? How well was this thought out, man? You just so happen to find a Star that we just so happened to drop on Toad who just so happened to be in that convenient spot after conveniently already being at the tree-"

"Grah, quit sweating the details!" Koopa Kid shouted. "I can do whatever the heck I want without your "logic" thank you very much! You aren't getting this Star back, so you can just forget about it! Latah, losers!"

Koopa Kid left with a growl, already starting to bound up the side of the tree and presumably heading for the top. Toad, Boo, and Waluigi all let out wails of distress.

"No, the tree!"

"No, my Star!"

"No, MY Star!…and the riches I was going to make with it!"

Well, this was an interesting development. Go outside your tent, wish on a star, only to have that very same Star stolen twice in a row. Toad was totally lost on what to do, but Boo and Waluigi had already formulated a plan.

"We are so getting that Star back!" Boo announced. "Then it will be in my possession once more!"

"Oh really? How do you plan to get it back?" scoffed Waluigi, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Duh! Go up that tree and get it myself?"

"Boo, you DO know that it's nearly morning?"

Boo was about to make a snide remark, until he saw the truth in Waluigi's statement. If he wasn't already, he would have certainly turned pale.

"Hey, uh…what's up with him?" asked Toad.

"I'm a Boo! Everyone knows Boos are only supposed to come out at night!"

"But I've seen you in the daytime plenty of times before- what makes this situation any different?"

Boo nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well, see…in a way, I've been 'banned' from the Towering Treetop…only in the morning though. Plus I've got myself a little thing I do during the night, so I don't like to show myself in the day."

"…do you have some secret life that you're keeping from us?" Toad questioned after a long silence, mouth gaping. Boo narrowed his eyes suspiciously and backed away from Toad and Waluigi, who was just glad that Boo would be out of his hair for awhile.

"That's for me to know, and for you to possibly find out. See you guys tonight…that is, if you're still around at night! Eee hee hee hee!"

He spun around and took off into the sky, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Toad yawned- apparently he had been up earlier than he thought.

"…okay, that was weird…" he moaned, heading back to the tent. Waluigi saw him start to leave and grabbed his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to bed! I want to be as rested as I can get before Toadette and I trek up the tree-"

Waluigi's eyes lit up with a mischievous gleam. "You're climbing the tree later?"

Toad rubbed his eyes. "Uh, yeah-"

"Perfect! You two can help me claim the Star before Boo comes back!"

"No! That's your problem! I came here to spend some time with Toadette! If you want to go hunt down a Star, then be my guest!"

"Remember what Koopa Kid said," Waluigi reminded Toad who was still trying to make an escape. "He said that he'll burn down the entire tree with the Star! So, it's probably in our best interest to get it back."

Toad continued to hesitate, but Waluigi knew he'd cave in soon.

"Just think of how upset Toadette would be if such a natural wonder were to perish…"

Toad went silent for a long, long time before he turned the tables by asking, "Why are you even here, Waluigi?"

Waluigi instantly let go of Toad and nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Well, it just so_ happens_ that this is one of the days that Daisy comes around here, and I-"

"I've heard enough…"

"HEY!"

Toad started walking back to Toadette, now feeling really exhausted.

**Two Hours Later-**

"Toad! Toad! Toad! Toad! Toad! To-"

"Argh, what?" Toad responded groggily to the over-excited voice calling his name.

"Hmph, I can tell you're still tired…"

"I was sleeping-"

"I bet you'll wake right up when I say that it's morning!" Toadette cried eagerly.

"…I don't feel very awake."

Toadette then hid a secret grin and pulled something out from behind her back. "Oh yeah? Well what about if I show you…this?"

Toad suddenly felt pain in his eyes as a blinding light emerged from Toadette's hand. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sight, and when they did, Toad was definitely awake now.

"Where…where did you get that?" he nearly squeaked, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"I woke up half an hour ago and went to go tree-gazing…and it fell right out of the tree! It landed next to me, so naturally I picked it up…"

Toad knew what had happened, but he was still stunned- Toadette was now in possession of the Star Koopa Kid stole. Whatever had happened- whether he had dropped it, it was knocked away from him, or he fell asleep and it 'escaped', Koopa Kid would definitely be after that Star. Koopa Kid was most likely still in that tree somewhere, and he'd be after Toadette if he knew she had the Star…

_"Okay Toad, need a plan, need a plan fast…"_

"Toad, are you okay? You're looking sort of…jittery."

"Wha? Um, no…just excited!"

Toadette smiled. "So am I! So, let's not waste anymore time and let's go!"

She grabbed Toad's arm and just about yanked him out of the tent door, running toward the Towering Treetop. When they reached the base of the trunk, only Toad was surprised to see Daisy arguing with Waluigi. Toadette stopped running and turned her head curiously.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Didn't you know that Daisy's always here on days like this?" Toad asked, freeing his wrist from Toadette's grasp. Toadette nodded.

"Yeah, she sometimes comes here to guide people up the tree if they want to in the mornings- I don't know what happens at night, though…I hope we get to find out!"

"…this is just a mere coincidence!" Waluigi assured. Toad didn't quite catch the first part of his statement. Daisy was in a fury, hands on her hips and staring the purple plumber down.

"Yeah right! I wouldn't be surprised if you were waiting to come here all week!"

"…well that's not true!"

"Excuse us, what's going on?" Toadette interrupted, getting the debaters to turn to the Toads. Daisy's anger instantly vanished as she turned to Toadette and gave a small wave.

"HI! What brings you here to the tree today?"

"A trip," Toad replied casually, eyeing Waluigi suspiciously. "What were you two arguing about?"

Daisy folded her arms and sighed. "He's only here because I'm here rather than enjoying the tree, and I'm trying to get him to leave but he won't!"

"You know why I can't leave, Toad!" Waluigi exclaimed, Daisy giving him a dark look again.

"Oh yeah? And what reason would that be?"

"He, uh…he really does want to see the tree!" Toad blurted out. "He's with us!"

"He is?" questioned Daisy, Toadette, and Waluigi. Toad gulped and nodded.

"Y-Yeah…so please don't make him leave Daisy! It really is a just a coincidence!"

Daisy held her breath, turning from Toad to Waluigi and back again. "Oh, okay…but if he acts up I'm shoving him off a branch."

"I don't mind, actually," Toadette said. She then walked over to Daisy. "Will you guide us up the tree today Daisy?"

"Of course! That's my job, is it not? If you'll follow me to the left, we can start!"

"Awesome!"

The two then started disusing the tree as they all began to climb their way up, Waluigi and Toad hanging in the back and talking about more important matters.

"Thanks for covering for me, I owe you," Waluigi said under his breath.

"Good, because I only did it because you're going to do something for me."

"What? You refused to help me! Why would I even think about doing something for you-"

"Toadette has the Star Koopa kid stole."

Waluigi nearly tripped. "Say what-"

"Apparently Koopa Kid must have dropped it or something and now Toadette has it. I know he'll be on a hunt for the Star, and I don't want anything bad happening to Toadette."

"So why are-"

"I promised her I'd take her up the tree today, and I didn't want to break that promise. Basically I'm leading her into enemy territory, though…so where you come in is, if you see Koopa Kid, keep him away from Toadette at all costs, and when Toadette and I climb back down from the tree later today, I'll give you the Star. Fair?"

Waluigi thought it over for awhile before hanging his head.

"Alright, I guess it's a small price to pay for the Star…"

Toad nodded. "Thanks."

"Hmph. Don't thank me until I've actually done something…"

As they hurried to catch up with the girls, they were unaware that someone's angry eyes were staring them down…

. . .

"…and those were the bouncy toadstools, purposefully planted there to ease up the climbing experience," Daisy recited. Waluigi and Toad were somewhat bored with the knowledge, but when Toad saw Toadette completely devoting her attention to Daisy, he tried to take in a few facts as well. Waluigi attempted to look interested just to show Daisy he was interested in the tree. "To your left is what's called a Morning Blossom, which is a flower that is open only during the day. Their pink color sets them apart from a night Blossom, which are purple and obviously only open during the night."

"I hope we get to see a Night Blossom!" Toadette sighed dreamily. Daisy laughed.

"Maybe you will, but I know I won't. Night is when I have to leave, so you might need to see it on your own."

"Cool!" Toadette glanced over her shoulder at Toad. "What do you think so far Toad?"

"Eh what? Um…it's very intriguing so far."

Waluigi was so bored, he almost wanted Koopa Kid to pop out and try to ambush them. Just for something exciting…

They all stepped onto the pink flower that briefly closed up and sent them flipping into the air. Daisy landed professionally on a hovering stump, catching Toadette who obviously enjoyed the experience. Toad was taken by surprised when he found himself in the air, and Waluigi ended up flipping too late and landed on his back.

"Um, ow…"

"I never knew a Morning Blossom could do that…" Toadette trailed, writing it down for future reference. Daisy nodded.

"It's sort of like a defense mechanism for the flower…really hard to explain."

Waluigi groaned and walked slightly ahead of everyone, eyeing Toadette s he walked past her. Sure enough, in her pocket (somehow) was the Star. He had an urge to just push her down and take it for himself, but who knew what Toad would do if he attempted that.

"Shall we go up or to the right?" Daisy asked. "It's your choice, they all lead to the top!"

"Well I don't like the look of the acorn tied to a vine…" Waluigi trailed, eyeing the only thing to get them over a small gap. "So my vote will probably go to climbing up."

"I say to the right!" Toadette exclaimed. "C'mon Waluigi, there's nothing wrong with being a little risky!"

"I'll say to the right too," Toad added, grinning at Toadette. Daist shrugged.

"Right it is, then."

_"I hate you all…"_

"What was that, Waluigi?"

Waluigi coughed and shook his head. Daisy gave him a look, then grabbed the vine and swung across.

"Woo hoo! C'mon, it's fun!"

Toad grabbed the vine next, carefully placing his feet on the acorn and swinging over the gap. When he made it to the other side safely, he realized that it wasn't so bad.

"My turn!" Toadette cheered, grabbing the vine when it swung back. Waluigi watched as she prepared to swing across, still looking particularly bored.

"Hee hee hee…"

Waluigi could've sworn he had heard a chuckle. He looked, but no one was laughing. That's when he saw a scaly hand emerge from the leaves, holding a pair of scissors. The plumber's eyes widened as he caught on to what was about to happen.

"Look out!"

Translation: Not my Star!

Waluigi football tackled Toadette, causing them to fly over the gap and tumble into Daisy and Toad. When they all pulled themselves together, they saw the vine suddenly snap in two and fall to the ground. Toadette seemed the most upset.

"Wha…what?"

Daisy was simply furious. "Who in their right mind would do that? Now we'll have to find a new vine for people to get across!" she started hard at Waluigi who cringed. "I bet you did that, didn't you? You didn't want to cross the vine so you cut it clean off!"

"Hey, I had no idea that was about to happen!" Waluigi shot back. "You should be lucky that I even thought of saving Toadette!"

Toadette currently peered over the edge, staring sadly at the fallen vine.

"Who would want to destroy the tree like this?"

"Waluigi," Daisy responded to Toadette. Waluigi's jaw dropped.

"I told you, I didn't-"

"Just don't let it happen again," Daisy warned, getting Toadette to stand up and for them to continue up the tree. Waluigi clenched his fists as he stood up, Toad slowly walking over to him.

"What happened…?"

Waluigi motioned up to the branch the vine once hung from. "He did it…"

Toad didn't even need "him" specified. He glared up at the leaves, almost expecting Koopa Kid to pop his head out from among the leaves and swear up revenge.

But he didn't.

. . .

"…and here is where you can ride on a Fluff!" Daisy said, continuing with the tour. Toadette raised her hand.

"Can you describe a Fluff for me? I've heard of them, but I'm not all to familiar on what they look like…"

Daisy smiled and knocked on the door to a small shop. Toad, Toadette, and Waluigi all took a step back as the doors opened, revealing a Koopa behind the counter. Three Fluff, which resembled dandelion seeds, came flying out. One was pink, one was blue, and one was yellow.

"Would you like to ride a Fluff?" the Koopa said nicely. Toadette eagerly nodded her head.

"Of course! Ooh, which one should I pick…"

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter," sighed Waluigi.

"Uh, no, each colors determines how far it will go," Daisy told him.

"Psh, of course! Who doesn't know that, right?"

He gave Daisy a suave grin, to which she rolled her eyes and turned away. Toadette eventually settled for the pink one and prepared to grab on.

"Be careful, Toadette…" Toad warned cautiously. Toadette just smiled at him.

"There's nothing to worry about, Toad!"

She griped the Fluff, cheering when it started to float in the air. Toad cowered in fear, Daisy lightly laughed, and Waluigi was on the lookout for anymore suspicious things. So far, it seemed that Toadette was just flying above them for a bit, until the seeds of the Fluff slowly started to blow away. Both Waluigi and Toad found this odd, considering there wasn't much of a breeze. Glancing to their upper left, they saw a face sticking out of another set of leaves, blowing the Fluff's seeds away until they were all gone. When Toadette had three seeds left, her Fluff started to fall.

"Waaaaaaah!"

"Hey! That isn't supposed to happen!" Daisy panicked.

Toad started running around in a frenzy. "Toadette!"

"I've got her!…again…" Waluigi trailed, springing into action.

Translation: Not my Star! …again…

He caught Toadette jus before she hit the wooden platform built into the tree, Toad running over and asking her if she was okay.

"I'm fine, Toad! That was f un!" she said cheerfully. "It is sort of odd how it lost all its seeds all at once, though…"

Daisy folded her arms and glared at Waluigi again. The plumber put Toadette down and glared right back.

"You can't possibly think I did that?"

"Who else would have the means to?" the princess huffed back.

"Uh, Daisy?" Toad said nervously. Daisy raised an eyebrow. "I really don't think Waluigi did that…it must have been a freak thing, right?"

"But that's the second time Toadette has been in potential danger!"

"And it's the second tine I've saved her too," muttered Waluigi under his breath.

"Please, Daisy…it wasn't him, I know it!" Toad pleaded. Daisy sighed and rested her face in her palm.

"Ugh, fine…this can't keep on happening, though…"

Waluigi innocently put up his hands. "Well, don't look at me- I can't explain why this is all happening."

"You mean happened," Daisy said sharply, still eyeing him unsurely. "Because it won't, and I mean won't, happen again."

"Can't make any promises-"

Daisy grabbed and squeezed his arm, making Waluigi shout for mercy. "Okay! Okay! Ergh…it won't happen again!"

Toad stared up at where he and Waluigi had seen the face.

And he could've sworn it was glaring back at him.

. . .

"Man, Waluigi…" Toad sighed as they continued the trek. "I take it Koopa Kid knows that Toadette has the Star now…"

"You think?" Waluigi grunted back, lightly grabbing the bruise on his arm.

"I only wonder what he'll do next…"

"Hopefully he'll give up and not do anything next…"

Toad shook his head. "He's obviously desperate to get that Star back; I doubt he'll give up anytime soon…"

Speak of the little Devil, he was preparing his next strike as they spoke. Toadette was continuing to learn things from Daisy, and Daisy was continuing to ramble on about the things to learn. They stood under a tree with a large bee's nest, and neither Toad nor Waluigi was liking the looks of that…

"This type of tree is prefect for insects, like the bees you see living here," Daisy explained. "They're actually quite nice, as long as you don't do anything to make them angry, of course!"

Toadette laughed. "That's sort of a given, Daisy!"

"Yeah, but the bees that live here tend to get very angry…just don't get near the nest at all and you'll be fine."

Toad shrugged and continued to follow the princess. "Well all right then!"

Waluigi had already started to jump for Toadette as a stick poked out of the tree and started jabbing the hornet's nest. Waluigi shoved Toadette out of the way, Toad cringing when several bees came flying out and brutally attacked Waluigi.

"Ow! Ow! OW! HEY!" he started running in circles and flailing his rams about. "NARGH! Help me! Get 'em off Waluigi!"

"Oh for the love of…" Daisy pulled out a bottle of spray-water (don't ask) and aimed it at Waluigi's direction. Within seconds, he was drenched, but the bees retreated back to their disturbed home. "Did you not just hear me say not to disturb the nest?"

"I heard you all right…" Waluigi winced, checking to see how many bee stings he obtained.

"Then why would you-"

"Listen to me girl, I didn't do that!"

"Then who did? Although I wouldn't be surprised if they emerged out of the beehive just to attack you because they don't like you-"

"Grr…"

Waluigi scrambled up the tree with the beehive, shouting incoherent things while the bees started to attack again. Toadette stood clear of the bees, Daisy started at Waluigi like he lost his mind, and Toad noticed the leave rustle a bit before someone jumped out of them and onto another branch.

"Hey Waluigi, you can get out of there now," Toad grunted, not taking his sights off the escaping figure. Waluigi tumbled out of the tree, only to be saved by another round of being sprayed.

"Are you alright Waluigi?" Toadette asked.

"What idiot throws himself into a tree infested by bees for crying out loud!" Daisy scoffed. Waluigi just made a face as he stood back up.

"Little jerk got away…"

"Well anyway," Daisy huffed, straightening out her dress. "We'd better hurry. We can still make it to the top before the day ends!"

So Daisy led the group to the right, climbing up a ladder and going backward from the way they were supposed to go. Toadette took constant snapshots of anything interesting while Toad and Waluigi were on the look-out for any signs of Koopa Kid as they went. Oddly enough, no other sabotages occurred on their way there, Toad noticed as they crossed a bridge. Daisy then motioned toward another ladder to the side of her.

"This is it! Once we climb up here, we'll be at the very top of the Towering Treetop!" she exclaimed. "Best of all, there'll be a surprise when we get there!"

"What kind of surprise?" Toadette asked.

"It better not be a bad one-" Waluigi grumbled, only to be elbowed by Toad.

Daisy simply smiled. "You'll see when we get there!"

Toadette, overcome with even more excitement, scrambled up the ladder and scurried onto the top of the tree. She gasped in shock, only for Toad to hurry after to see what she was gawking at. When he stood on the highest platform of the Towering Treetop, he had to whistle.

"Hey, we did it!" he said, actually surprised. Toadette was jumping around as if she couldn't contain her excitement.

"It's even better than I imagined!"

"Oh hey, great, can we go now?" Waluigi asked impatiently. Daisy whacked him over the head.

"We just got here!" She then turned to the sky and frowned. "Though I'll have to be leaving soon. It's almost nighttime!"

"Nighttime already?"

Daisy nodded to Toadette. "You guys can get back down to the bottom of the tree yourselves, right?"

"Well-"

"All you have to do it follow the right path of the tree, and you'll reach the slide, no worries!" Daisy glanced at Toad. "I'm pretty sure you can get you all down safely Toad.'

Toad nearly fainted. "What? Me? Why me? Toadette knows more about this place than I do!"

"I trust you Toad," Toadette said brightly. Toad groaned.

"Yeah, that makes me feel better…but okay…"

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Waluigi asked, stepped next to Daisy and putting an arm around her. "you'll miss out on a romantic sunset with yours truly!"

Daisy removed Waluigi's arm from her and started to walk away. "That just makes me want to leave more!"

Before she completely left, however, she jumped up onto the upper platform, knocked on the tree that sat there, and bounded away. She did stick around a little bit longer just to see their reactions to the tree. Woody, as was the tree's name, started shaking, though there really wasn't anything to fear. The kind tree rained down with several gold coins, all of which Toad and Toadette scooped up…save for one that Waluigi managed to pocket.

"Now, who would've thought that something like this would happen?" Toad laughed.

Toadette nodded in agreement. "Isn't this cool?"

"Oh yeah…" Waluigi grunted, turning away from the duo as the sun lowered itself into the sky. Now the sky was golden orange colors, and was quite pretty. Waluigi didn't have time to take in the view, however, because he was still worrying about Koopa Kid. Where did the little twerp get off to this time…?

Toadette, on the other hand, stopped scooping up the falling coins and stared over the edge of the tree, looking into the sunset.

"Wow…it's even prettier than in the books," she breathed. The sun's glow reflected against the lake perfectly, and the tree itself seemed to be surrounded by a golden halo. Toad smiled- this had been a good day after all! Sure, there were a few close calls, but in the end, it turned out just fine! They had climbed to the top of the tree, they were enjoying the scenic view, and nothing bad had happened to Toadette. It was one of the best days Toad had in a long time.

Waluigi could care less about the view- he just wanted to get back to the bottom of the tree so he could get his Star. Impatiently, he waited for the sun to sink behind the horizon and disappear completely so the two Toads would stop sky gazing. However, as the sky grew darker, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Woody began to change. His bright green leaves darken to a threatening shade of purple, his trunk went from brown to blue, and his warm smile quickly grew into an irritated frown. Waluigi was right, since he knew this was not a good sign.

"Um, guys…" he stammered. "It's probably for the best that we get out of here…"

Toadette tilted her head curiously at Waluigi. "What do you mean by that?"

Waluigi pointed at Woody, who apparently became Mean Woody during the night. Toadette's eyes widened.

"Whoa! I've never read about anything like this before!"

"And there's probably a good reason why!" a fourth voice cried out, belonging to none other than Koopa Kid. He jumped out from Mean Woody's leaves and stood at the tippy top of the Towering Treetop. "Because whoever gets close to Mean Woody suffers excruciating pain!"

"What can a tree possibly do?" Toad dared to ask, since he was especially afraid to find out. Koopa Kid chuckled sinisterly.

"You don't want to find out," he scowled. He then turned to Toadette. "And you won't have to find out, as long as you hand over that Star!"

Toadette yelped and clutched her Star. "What do you want with my Star?"

"Your Star?" Waluigi and Koopa Kid hissed, both pausing and trading looks. Koopa Kid then shook his head and returned his attention back to Toadette.

"You stole that Star from me, girl! And unless you want to suffer, you're going to give it back!"

"All you had to say was that you were the one who dropped this Star this morning…" Toadette trailed. "I would have happily given it back…"

"I didn't drop it- it was stolen from me!" Koopa Kid whined. "That dumb Boo tried to take it, but morning officially came and he disappeared! When_ he_ disappeared, _he_ dropped the Star…and thanks to me eavesdropping on that twig of a plumber and your weak Toad friend, I learned that you now have the Star!"

"So that's how you found out!" Waluigi growled dangerously. "Well now you're going to pay for taking MY Star in the first place!"

"I, uh-"

"Toadette, don't give it to him!" Toad shouted. "He's going to use it to destroy the tree!"

"How…do you know?" Toadette asked, looking at Toad curiously.

"Before you woke up this morning, Waluigi and Boo were fighting over that Star, and Koopa Kid came and took it. When you told me that you found a Star that fell out of the tree…I knew it was the one that Koopa Kid stole…"

"So…you knew I had a stolen Star the whole time, you knew Koopa Kid would try and take it back the whole time, and you kept it all away from me the whole time?" Toadette questioned, somewhat sadly. Toad nodded his head.

"Yeah, pretty much…"

Toadette frowned, and was almost considering giving the Star to Koopa Kid nevertheless, though Toad _did_ say Koopa Kid would destroy the Treetop if he got hold of the Star…

"Grr…you're wasting my time! Hand over the Star, NOW!" Koopa Kid ordered, starting to shake Mean Woody. Rumbling commenced moments later, and before the trio could figure out what was happening, Spinies started to fall from the sky and rain down on everyone. Waluigi let out a high-pitched scream while Toad jumped on top of Toadette to protect her from the falling orbs of pain.

"AAAH! Whadda we- OW! do, Waluigi?" Toad wailed.

"Give me the Star and I'll make the pain, pain go away!" Koopa Kid sang. Waluigi narrowed his eyes at the kid while shaking his head.

"Never!"

Waluigi ran to a slightly clearer spot that wasn't getting as rained down on, then started to whistle. Koopa Kid eventually gave up shaking the tree and ran to take the Star from Toadette himself.

"Waluigi…" Toad huffed, feeling hurt from all the Spinies crashing don on him. "…what're you doing…?"

"Eeeee hee, eeee hee, eeee heh heh heh heh heh!"

"What in the-"

A white blur slammed into koopa Kid, knocking him a considerable distance away from Toadette and the Star. Toad stood back up as Boo grabbed Toadette and grinned cheekily.

"Boo, what are you-"

"It's the job I told you about!" he cackled. "At night, people hire me to steal coins, steal Stars…or just bring them to the bottom of the tree. Looks like Toadette here is needing a lift to the bottom!"

"And hurry- that deranged kid is still after my Star!"

"You mean _my_ Star," Boo corrected, seeing Toadette still hanging onto the Star for dear life.

"I've been trying all day to get that Star back, and I'm not going to give up now!" Koopa Kid roared, lunging at Boo. "RAWR!"

"Looks like its go-time, girly!" Bo yelped, doing a midair backflip to avoid the Mini-Bowser's attack. Toadette grabbed onto Boo while still clutching the Star as he did a corkscrew toward the bottom of the tree, bringing Toadette to brief safety.

Meanwhile, Waluigi was performing rapid kicks on Koopa Kid, while Koopa Kid was gripping Toad's ankle.

"Don't think you're getting away!" he snapped.

"Well I am!"

"I might not be able to get rid of the tree…" Koopa Kid grunted between kicks from Waluigi. "…but I'll get rid of you two for ruining my chances!"

"I'd like to see you give it your best shot, kid!" Waluigi challenged, still kicking him. Koopa Kid pushed Toad forward, making him fall, then grabbed Waluigi's leg and tossed him overhead. Waluigi landed with a thud on Toad, and both of them pushed themselves up to see what Koopa Kid was about to do.

"Hee hee hee…I've still got one more plan up my non-existent sleeve!" Koopa Kid laughed. He kicked Waluigi and Toad even more out of the way, then jumped down the tree until he reached the slide and started to ride down it. Boo and Toadette, who were now at the bottom of the tree, watched as he landed on a stump, pulled a giant feather from nowhere, and started tickling the tree's nose. "C'mon, you stupid tree…sneeze! Sneeze like you've never sneezed before!"

Waluigi and Toad quickly caught on to what was happening and made a run for it.

"We've gotta get down to the slide before we fall!" Toad cried.

"Way to tell me something I already know!" Waluigi exclaimed.

"Quick, this way!" Toad exclaimed, hurrying over to a zip line. He grabbed it and zipped down, sending it back up for Waluigi to use. They continued to run, both of them landing on the Night Blossom that sent them flying up to a higher place.

"Ack! That's not good…" Waluigi grunted, seeing that they were slightly higher than they should have been. Toad just kept running.

"C'mon! The slide is just down there!"

He jumped along the hovering tree stumps, Waluigi doing his best to keep up. However, Koopa Kid gave the tree's nose one last tickle, and it suddenly started to scrunch up its nose.

"Oh no, they're not going to make it!" Toadette yelled.

Koopa Kid bounded away as the face of the Towering Treetop started to twitch- his nose was feeling a bit itchy…he sniffled, he snuffled, he grunted…and eventually the Towering Treetop let out a hearty sneeze that left anyone among its branches falling to the ground. Koopa Kid started to dance.

"Yes! Score! Take that, idiots! That's what you get when you mess with Koopa Kid!" the young koopa cackled. Toadette, enraged that Koopa Kid though he was going to get away for doing such a thing to her friends and the tree, marched right over with the Star in her hands.

"And_ this_ is what _you_ get when you mess with me or my friends!" she cried, bringing the Star up over her head. Toadette then brought it down right on Koopa Kid's head, knocking him out with the glittering object. The insane kid had no idea what hit him. Toadette angrily continued to huff, then started to hope that Toad would turn out all right.

Toad was wailing on his way down- the ground was coming up awfully fast, and he feared that it would be the end. At least he had one last great day with Toadette, so it wasn't all in vain, he'd go out with a bang, he'd go out remembered …oh jeez, now he was getting all dramatic. Still, the thought of slamming into the ground at top speed wasn't a very comforting one. When he hit something and stopped failing, he let out a final shriek…only to realize he was still very much alive. Toad, afraid to open his eyes, felt around him. Something was there, but at the same time…it wasn't.

"Unh! I've got'cha!"

"Th-thanks Boo…" Toad trembled, shaken up from the moment. Boo was about to attempt to save Waluigi as well, but it turned out that Waluigi had managed to grab onto a blue Fluff while he fell, and now he was floating softly to the ground.

"That…" Toad gasped as Boo set him back on the ground. "…was way too close."

"Tell me about it…" groaned Waluigi. When Toad composed himself, he noticed Toadette breathing angrily while standing over an unconscious Koopa Kid. Cautiously, he walked over and tapped her shoulder.

"Toadette…?"

Toadette whirled around, then smiled at seeing that Toad was perfectly fine.

"Toad, you're okay!" she cried, instantly giving him a hug.

"I'm just as surprised as you are, trust me…"

He then slightly pushed her away and hung his head. Toadette, once again, tilted her in confusion.

"Toad…what's wrong?"

"Meh…I'm just sorry that I kept what was really going on from you and that your day didn't turn out at all like you planned…you were a target for most of the day and have been in several life-threatening situations! I brought you here so I could make you happy and get noticed a little more…you've been so busy with you fascination by nature that we never really do things together anymore." Toad frowned. "Now you're probably mad that I completely ruined your day…"

Toadette, on the other hand, smiled and placed a hand on Toad's shoulder.

"It's true I'm a bit upset that you kept me in the dark about some things…but it's nothing that can't be forgiven, right? And it's also true the day didn't go as I planned…" Toad sighed sadly. "…it went even better!"

Toad's eyes shot wide open as he gawked at Toadette. "…you're kidding, right?"

"Of course not! I got to see a natural wonder, I learned a few new things that I never knew before, there were a few spots of excitement that I wouldn't normally get, and I saw a beautiful sunset…Toad, I had a _great_ day!"

"Really?"

Toadette nodded. "And I'd gladly do it all again."

"Whee!" cheered Boo while chasing after fireflies fluttering around. "Classic somewhat cliché happy ending! Huzzah!"

"And that reminds me…" Toad whispered in Toadette's wear, followed by Toadette looking thoughtful for a moment then nodding eagerly. Toadette marched over to Waluigi, who was hanging around on the side not doing anything in particular. She then pulled out the Star and held it out to the lanky plumber.

"Toad promised you this if you helped me get back down the tree safely…and I'd like for him to honor that promise. So, the Star is yours now!"

Boo stopped chasing fireflies and froze, gaping at Waluigi. Waluigi, on he other hand, was almost tempted to take that Star…but then he realized…he didn't want it.

"No thank you, Toadette," he stated calmly, getting the other three bystanders to stare at him like he lost his mind. "After seeing all the trouble that one Star can cause, I don't think I want one…"

Toadette reeled the Star back and shrugged. "Oh, okay then…"

Waluigi held up his index finger. "However…you should probably give it to Boo. It was his in the first place, after all."

Toad went slack jawed as Boo nearly tackled his Star. "Really, Waluigi? !"

Waluigi nodded to Toad while Toadette watched Boo practically dance with the newly claimed Star.

"Finally! Back in your rightful possession! I'll never let you out of my sights again Star!"

"All's well that ends well, right?" Toad shrugged.

"Ugh, don't drag that old saying out…" Toadette groaned. "This ending is already sort of cheesy as is it!"

"What can I say? It wraps up everything nicely…" Toad then yawned. "And man, I'm beat after all that. Let's get some sleep then we can start heading for home tomorrow, what do ya say?"

"I say…that sounds like a good idea."

So toad and Toadette headed back to the tent as Boo continued to dance around with his Star. Waluigi watched the other three, and then he realized…he was the only one that didn't get anything out of this! Now angry, he stomped his foot and marched up to Boo.

"Guess what Boo? I changed my mind- I want that Star that was supposed to be given to me!"

Boo stopped in mid-dance and attempted to hit Waluigi with the object. "Are you crazy? You gave up the opportunity, and I'm not giving it back!"

"That Star should belong to Waluigi!"

"Dude, you even admitted that it was mine!"

"Get over here!"

"Over my already-dead body!"

Boo started flying away, Waluigi giving a determined chase. He tried to tackle to ghost a few times, but the thought in itself was already doomed to fail. Boo kept heckling the plumber, which made Waluigi even more intent on getting that Star back. As they ran away into the night, they ran away from the Towering Treetop…

And a still-unconscious Koopa Kid. Apparently Toadette hit him pretty hard…

* * *

**Don't you hate it when it takes over 5 months to generate an idea? ;P I'll try to be a bit earlier on my updates...which may be posssible since the next one is a MP7 chapter! :D**

**P.S. I've rewritten this, like, three times from scratch. XP**


	7. Act 1, Episode 7

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 7: Grand Canal

"I can't believe we're actually here!" Daisy exclaimed, as she, Luigi, Mario, Peach, Toadette, Dry Bones, and Birdo arrived in Grand Canal. "This place just screams fun! I want to see everything!"

"A better question is, where are we going to start?" Birdo asked. "This place is quite big…"

"I don't want to miss anything either!" Toadette exclaimed.

"Well, we all have different places we want to go, but I guess we'll just have to hit them all," Mario shrugged. "Now let's go- I'm probably as anxious as Daisy!"

"I hope that's a compliment…" Daisy muttered as their group started to head toward the west. She then snuck a secretive glance over to Luigi. "You know, the thing I think I look forward to most is probably a gondola ride…"

Luigi was about to make a comment until Toadette blurted out with, "I can't wait to see that famous giant Blooper! You know, the one that can juggle! I heard it has all sorts of neat-o tricks!"

"I'm interesting in sight-seeing myself…" Peach hummed. "There's a certain tower that I've always wanted to check out…"

"Then what're we waiting for? Let's-a go already!" Luigi cried. The gang all cheered and headed to their first destination, all up in a buzz about the excitement of being at Grand Canal.

All except Dry Bones, that is.

"The coast is clear now…" he whispered, watching the happy group head into the canal like tourists. There was a mad cackle, a ripple in the air, and Boo appeared out of thin…air.

"Do they notice that you are not even there, Dry Bones?" Boo asked. "How in the world did you even manage to get an invitation?"

Dry Bones shrugged. "I'm not really sure myself…I'm a bit of a random character to take out for an outing, no?"

"Yes. Yes you are."

"Hmph. At least I managed to get an invitation…"

"Quiet. They don't know Bowser is lurking around the area, right?"

Dry Bones folded his arms and nodded. "Of course not…well, not yet."

"And you swear that he's not going to do anything too terrible?" Boo continued to question, staring at Dry Bones seriously.

"What's the worst he could do? Kidnap Peach? I wouldn't be surprised if he had some sort of lame mini-scheme up his sleeve. Don't worry Boo; just let my boss do his thing…"

Boo winced. "It goes against many of my morals…and I wanted to come too! Why wasn't I invited? I feel totally ignored! Grah-"

"They figured you'd scare Luigi…again. As usual. I believe it was a smart move-"

"Shut up. You'd better go catch up with them before they realize you're missing!"

"What're you going to do?"

"I'll be around…" the ghost trailed, slowly vanishing. "Just remember I'm watching…always watching…"

"You're totally going to follow me, aren't you?

"What else am I supposed to do?"

. . .

Not too far away from where they first docked at Grand Canal, the group was making progress through the tourist attractions. What caught the gang's eyes first were the gondolas. Naturally, Daisy was all for it and after grabbing Luigi and dragging him over, everyone else shrugged and decided it would be a good place to start.

"Nothing like beginning the trip with a calm and relaxing boat ride…" Daisy sighed, being helped into the gondola by Luigi.

"I glad I brought a camera…" Birdo trailed as she jumped into the same boat as Toadette. "I'm looking forward to taking pictures of this place!"

"Maybe we'll find a great place to take a picture of later!" Mario suggested. Once he helped Peach safely into the gondola ride, he informed the Shy Guys driving the gondolas that they were ready, and they took off down the canal.

As they started to drift off, Dry Bones and Boo poked their heads around the corner of a building, watching the six of them drift down the canal.

"Look at them," Boo growled, watching the group float away through binoculars. "Enjoying that gondola ride…I should be there!"

"Shhh! Why are you watching them through binoculars anyway, Boo?"

"It makes the situation seem more dramatic."

Dry Bones just rolled his eyes and continued to watch the gang. "I'm supposed to report the group's whereabouts to Bowser…it's an assignment that doesn't necessary need you."

"Why do ya gotta tell Bowser for?"

"Like I said, he's got petty plans for the group to sabotage their trip, and it's my job to obey whatever he instructs me to do."

Boo made a face. "Oh really? Even if it included jumping off a cliff?"

"I could just piece myself together again."

"…darn the lack of psychics! But seriously, you'd follow whatever he says even if it's something ridiculous?"

"Yes," Dry Bones replied. He started to stalk away, shrugging at Boo. "Feel free to stay behind, though you'll either tag along anyway or follow me in secret nevertheless."

"Ooo…ugh…WAIT FOR ME!"

Boo reluctantly flew after Dry Bones, glancing back at the group before doing so.

. . .

The group was still enjoying their first stop of riding the gondolas, everyone enjoying it in different ways. Mario was leaning on the side of the boat, with Peach balancing her parasol over her shoulder and dipping her hand in the cool water, watching the ripples it made.

"This is really nice," Peach claimed, smiling at how calm everything was. "You can't get a better boat ride anywhere else!"

"You said it," mumbled Mario, almost as if he was halfway into a nap.

"Oh, I'm so looking forward to seeing the tower! I hope we go there next!"

"Me too, Princess…"

Meanwhile, in the second gondola, Luigi was blushing a furious red as Daisy insisted on snuggling into his arm- an unexpected gesture, but the plumber wasn't about to complain.

"I knew this would be a perfect place to visit first," Daisy sighed, eyes closed. "Now we'll all be relaxed and itching to go see the sights afterward!"

"Y-Yeah…" Luigi trembled. His words could hardly take shape, as Daisy being so close was making him jittery.

"Are you all right, sweetie?" asked Daisy, cracking open an eye. "You're looking a little…vermillion in the face right now."

"I'm fine, it…just must be the heat, heh heh."

"It's not that hot-"

"Temperature is different for different people, you know!"

Daisy put on a blank look before releasing Luigi's arm from captivity, shuffling away to the other side of the boat. Now Luigi sharply pulled his cap down over his face- he offended her! Turning away for the moment, Luigi tried to think of someway to change the tides of the situation.

That's when his gaze caught sight of a few flowers growing along the riverbank- and they were daisies no less! Seeing his chance, Luigi quickly sprang into action. He stretched his arm over the boat, trying to snag a specimen to give to Daisy. He knew his arms wouldn't reach, so he stretched out a little farther…

…only to inevitably fall into the water as his fingers brushed against the flowers. Daisy noticed the man overboard and jumped up to rescue him.

In the third boat, Toadette and Birdo were having more than a light conversation, with Toadette gushing about seeing the Blooper, and Birdo about a more personal matter.

"I wonder why Yoshi couldn't make it today…" Birdo trailed with a sigh. "It would be so much more enjoyable if he came along…"

'I could say the same about Toad," Toadette chuckled, arms behind her head. "But don't worry Birdo- I'm sure we'll have tons of fun anyway!"

"Yes, I suppose you're right…"

With relaxing, light conversations, and antics aside, the group slowly approached the end of the ride…

…with Dry Bones, Boo, and Bowser waiting for them.

"See? I told you they'd be swinging this way soon," Dry Bones reported, even saluting to his master. Bowser bellowed out in laughter, causing Boo to fly into the store they were standing next to.

"I hope you've got a good plan, otherwise I'm hijacking Dry Bones' invitation," groaned Boo, pushing a shelf off of him. Bowser just evilly rubbed his hands together.

"To be honest, I didn't have a plan…but seeing you in that abandoned shop gives me a great idea!"

"Excuse me!" shouted an angry Shy Guy, running out the door and waving his fists. "This shop is not abandoned- it belongs to me! And if you want to buy a souvenir, then you'd better get in line-"

"INFERIOR!" howled Bowser, nearly igniting the shopkeeper on fire. "I am Bowser, King of Koopas! Clear out or you'll be the newest addition to my barbeque menu!"

The Shy Guy whimpered for several seconds before bolting off. Boo watched the poor soul run off and folded his arms.

"That wasn't very nice," he scoffed.

"Bowser has no reason to answer to anyone," Dry Bones said almost emotionlessly. Bowser cackled and patted him on the head.

"At least one of my minions is listening-"

"I'm not your minion!"

"Regardless!" Bowser barked, ignoring Boo. "Into the shop! We must prepare for our customers…"

"Our what-"

Boo was cut off as Bowser scooped Boo and Dry Bones and leapt into the shop.

. . .

At the end of the ride, a Shy Guy assisted Mario out of his boat, with the plumber helping the rest out of their boats, including his soaking wet brother.

"Is there any place that sells a towel?" Luigi asked meekly, wringing out his hat.

"Probably, considering half the city is water," shrugged Toadette. "Is there shop nearby?"

"Yes, actually," Peach blinked, pointing to the very shop the villains were lurking by. Daisy let out a laugh and sprinted toward the building.

"That's what I call a convenience store!"

As the rest of the group promptly facepalm, Daisy knocked on the countered and peered into the shop.

However, instead of a Shy Guy, Bowser popped up.

"Gra ha ha ha! Welcome to Bowser City, where we have all of your insignificant needs!" the Koopa King cackled.

"Bowser? !" gawked Mario and Peach, the former jumping in front of the latter.

"You don't happen to sell towels, do you?" Luigi asked, ignoring the fact that his mortal enemy was working a shop. Bowser grinned and pulled out a suspicious box.

"Oh, sure, sure. And we have a ton of other valuable bobbles that come with it!"

"Ooh, really?"

"Of course! And it can all be yours for a mere fifteen coins!"

"Done." Luigi wheezed, whipping out fifteen coins faster than anyone could blink. Bowser snatched the cash, shoved the box into Luigi's grasp, slammed the shop window shut, and ran out the backdoor cackling. Luigi pawed through the sea of knick-knacks, but no towel was among them.

"There's nothing but useless junk in here! It's not even valuable!"

"Heh, Luigi really got stung on that deal…"

. . .

"Excellent work, guys!" Bowser laughed. He and his lackeys for the day were huddled back at the entrance to the canal, thinking of their next plan of action. "Those guys had no idea what hit them until it was too late!"

"Yes, quite villainous indeed," Boo sneered sarcastically. "Nothing quite as evil as scamming a person out of fifteen coins."

"Hey, being scammed is one of the ultimate evils, along with office products falling from the sky," grunted Bowser. "Anyway, that's behind us. Our next strike must be twice as heinous!"

"Ooh, like what? Giving them homework?"

"Nice suggestion," Bowser looked as if he was seriously considering it. "But no! We must do something…explosive."

"Explosions? !" Dry Bones gasped. Bowser snapped his fingers.

"And I know just what to do! Dry Bones, you gather up some Bob-ombs. Boo, you scope the group out and give us a signal when they are in an…opportune place."

"Like where?"

"I dunno," Bowser shrugged. "I'm only going to blow up the bridges and replace them with much cooler ones, so tell me whether they're at the tower so the blasts will blow them into the water, or on the bridges, where they'll just be blown up! Gra ha ha ha!"

"…someone had crazy flakes for breakfast…" Boo grumbled, flying off. "This can't end well after the last plan…"

"I bet they have they had no idea what to do with the useless junk I thrust upon then," Bowser chuckled to himself, watching as Dry Bones began to assemble a pile of bombs.

. . .

"It's it great that Grand Canal has a charity donation going on right now?" Toadette said cheekily, she and her friends walking around and taking in a few sights.

"Yeah," agreed Daisy. "I thought we'd never get rid of that junk…"

"I hope those disabled orphans get some good use out of them, though," Peach said. "Especially poor little blind Abigail."

"And they had towels!" cheered Luigi, all wrapped up in a blue and white one.

Birdo just stared at the ground and sighed. Toadette noticed her demeanor and jumped beside her.

"Still missing Yoshi?"

"Just a little…I'm trying not to let it get to me, but after seeing Mario and Peach, and Daisy and Luigi…I just wish he was here."

"Who knows?" Toadette replied, smiling and shrugging. "Maybe he might show up or something!"

"Remember, he had to have declined the invitation for a reason," Birdo mumbled. Toadette frowned and tried to find something else to say, but was interrupted by Peach's shrill scream.

"The Tower! The Tower!" she cried repeatedly, pointing frantically. "I can see it!"

"I see it too," Mario realized, standing on the tips of his toes to see it peaking over the buildings.

"We're getting closer!" cheered Toadette. "…to the Blooper, that is!"

"Oh, I wonder what the view is like there," Birdo stated, briefly snapping out of her funk. Peach grabbed her wrist and started running off.

"Well, there's only one way to know for sure!"

. . .

Meanwhile, perched on a building, was Boo, watching over the group through binoculars. He lowered his binoculars and sighed, staring apprehensively at the walkie talkie Bowser handed him.

"Oh, I suppose I should call Bowser…but I don't want to ruin their trip!" Boo exclaimed. "I can't believe Dry Bones gave up his own invitation to hurt the very people that invited him!"

He still stared at the communicator, but his face twisted into a scowl.

"But then again…they didn't invite me in the first place, so I should be entitled to a little revenge, no? Why should I care whether they have a good time or not? Serves them right for neglecting to bring me along, and choosing Dry Bones instead!"

Now worked up into a fury, Boo turned on the communicator.

"Come in, Lame Dragon. This is Marshmallow Ball. The moose are migrating to the mountain. I repeat, the moose are migrating to the mountain! Get ready for the sun to set in half of ten minutes!"

"…what? ! I didn't tell you to talk in code! It hurts my brain!" Bowser's voice boomed on the other end.

"Heh, surprise there."

"Shut up! Speak in terms I can understand!"

"Fine. The group is headed to the tower- get ready to blow stuff up in five minutes."

. . .

Back with the "moose", they were currently at the top of the "mountain", blissfully unaware of the "sun that was about to set".

"You can see the whole canal from here!" Peach gushed, her hair blowing in light breeze.

"I'm king of the world!" Mario cried, standing on the edge of the wall.

"Mario, get down from there!" Luigi gaped.

"Yeah," added Daisy. "That bit would've worked better when we were on the gondolas."

Luigi gave her a look a moment later as Mario consented and climbed down. Toadette, like Peach, was scoping out everything, getting particularly excited when she spotted the main attraction of the park.

"Hey, there's the Blooper!" she felt the need to announce in her excitement. She leaned over the edge of the wall, trying to get a better look. "We're not that far from it!"

"Careful, Toadette, don't fall off like Mario almost did," Luigi warned. Mario rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't going to fall off…"

"I'm fine, Luigi, I'm just trying to see…what is THAT? !"

In an instant, the rest of the group flocked next to Toadette, trying to see what she saw. However, it wasn't a very pleasant sight.

"Gra ha ha ha ha! So we meet again!" Bowser shouted up to them, standing on a dock.

"Augh! He's back!" squawked Luigi. "He probably has more snow globes and bobble heads!"

"No, not this this, Greenie!" Bowser boomed. He held up a remote and smirked. "This time, I'm hoping to make more of a…splash, so to speak."

"Pst, Bowser," Dry Bones' voice came from the walkie talkie. "I think "more of a bang" would have been a more appropriate pun to make-"

"Oh, who asked you for advice on witty banter?" Bowser shouted into the talkie. "As long as they get the point that I mean business, it really doesn't matter what pun I make!"

He hung up and returned to the group still gaping at him on the tower.

"Err…sorry about that. One of my associates called. Anyway, where was I?"

"You dramatically pulled out your big, bad remote," Daisy said in a bored tone, resting her head on her hand. Bowser snapped his fingers.

"Right, right. Anyway, when I push this menacing red button, previously placed Bob-omb will blow up the bridges, not only causing an act on vandalism, but the aftermath of the explosions will knock you right into the waters below!"

Before any of the other character could react, Dry Bones placed the last Bob-omb and signaled Bowser. Bowser let out a cackle and slammed his thumb on the button, many detonations occurring afterwards. The group watched as all the bridges in Grand Canal were effectively blasted to smithereens…along with Toadette cascading right over the edge.

"Ah, Toadette!" Birdo cried, as the explosion only knocked her and her friends down. Birdo quickly stood back up and prepared to dive over the edge, only for Daisy to grab Birdo, Peach to grab Daisy, Mario to grab Peach, and Luigi to grab Mario.

"Are you crazy? She can just swim back to shore!" Daisy exclaimed.

"She might not be crazy, but I might!" Bowser chortled, hurling a bomb in their direction.

"Ain't that the truth," huffed Boo, from his perch on the building.

The bomb collided with the building, not breaking it, but effectively setting it on a tilt (if it wasn't already). The group, trying to prevent Birdo from falling, eventually flipped right over the edge, landing right in the water where Toadette was wading.

"Glad you could drop in," Toadette deadpanned.

"We figured we could go for a swim too," Daisy shot right back.

Bowser was currently dancing, kicking out his legs and waving his arms in the air.

"Ha ha, it worked! Nothing ever works for me!" he cheered. He grinned devilishly at the ground as he pressed the button once again. "You may think that was the last of my surprises, but you'd be wrong!"

The water began to ripple violently as the whole city began to shake. The gang in the water could only look on as pure stone structures emerged out of the canal, replacing the previously destroyed bridges.

They had spikes lining the smoke-gray walls, trimmed with a frightening black. Decorated with insignias of Bowser, the bridges did look pretty sturdy.

"Oh man," Luigi gulped. "Bowser Bridges! Can this day get any more horrifying?"

"Hmph, it would've left a more lasting impression of evil if he hadn't replaced the wooden bridges he destroyed with sturdier ones…" Mario huffed, swimming to solid ground.

"Now we're all soaked, and we can't even use Luigi's towel!" complained Daisy.

"At least we still have the Blooper to look forward to," Toadette pointed out.

"Unless Bowser throws it in a volcano before we get there," sighed Peach.

Boo, still on top of the building, watched them murmur in disappointment as they attempted to be rescued by a slowly approaching gondola.

. . .

Back at the start, Dry Bones was doodling things on a blueprint while Bowser was busy gloating about their latest "success". Boo, meanwhile, was sulking on the dock.

"Fantastic job, Dry Bones," Bowser stated, strutting up and down the boardwalk like it was a runway. "Of course, none of that could've been possible without my clear-cut intelligent plan! Not to mention that it looks like the gang's vacation is ALL WET now! Grah ha ha ha ha!"

Dry Bones put on a blank face while Boo smacked his forehead. Bowser apparently didn't catch the negative reactions, because he continued to dance around until he stopped next to Dry Bones.

"So, my mere minion, what plan are you conjuring up for us this time? It's gotta be something mind-blowing! Something that'll blast Mario and his friends right off the map!"

"Well…" Dry Bones began, holding up his blueprint. "I was thinking of something a little more…extreme."

"Extreme! Ooh, sounds fun! Please share!"

"Well, with a bit of the Intel that Boo and I have collected, we have learned that they're bound to head to the Giant Blooper in the middle of the canal, which looks over everything."

"Continue, continue…"

"If we can somehow gain control of this Blooper, we can convince it to do our bidding, and we can use it to crush the heroes in its long, cold, tentacles! All we need is a pencil, a hypnobeam, a cup of Joe, and a fish!"

"…you lost me at "pencil". Let's do something less complicated."

"What? ! But it's not even complicated at all-"

"Hmm…" Bowser began to ponder, returning back to pacing around. Dry Bones looked at his plans, then Bowser, then crumbled up the paper and chucked it over his shoulder.

"Hmph. You wouldn't know a good plan even if it bit you in the-"

"Urgh, can we just go now?" whined Boo, flying around impatiently. Bowser folded his arms and scoffed.

"Says the guy who's against everything we do!"

"Yeah, you're not even helping come up with a new scheme!" added Dry Bones.

"Well, instead of ruining other peoples' day, why can't we just enjoy ourselves?" Boo asked.

"Because ruining other peoples' days IS enjoyable!" protested Bowser. "If you're not going to take part wholeheartedly in my awesome schemes, then you can leave! You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!"

Dry Bones once again rolled his eyes as Boo whirled around and growled at Bowser.

"Fine! I think I will! I came here to have fun, and I thought that if I wasn't invited to a day out, then I might as well enjoy it with my best friend!" he then glared at Dry Bones. "But, however, he's apparently too absorbed in the most ridiculous plots I've ever seen, even turning down a true good day in favor of backstabbing the very people who invited him!"

Dry Bones frowned. "Aw, Boo-"

"That should have been me, not you! Seriously, what were they thinking when they invited a direct minion of Bowser? That's almost as bad as inviting Bowser himself!"

"Hey, shut up!" growled Bowser, swatting at the ghost with no damage being done. "You say you were going to leave- scram already!"

"I'm going, I'm going…" Boo hissed, starting to fly off. However, after a few small moments, he returned for his tropical drink. "…I'm still going, but with my FRUIT SMOOTHIE TOO! WHAT NOW?"

And in a huff, Boo vanished. Dry Bones was silent after that, glancing down at the dock, while Bowser simply shrugged.

"All right, but he doesn't know what he's missing! We were going to have pizza later, but he won't be getting any now!" he marched back over to Dry Bones and threw an arm around his shoulders. "Okay, anyway, here's my plan for how we'll strike next…"

Bowser reached into his shell and pulled out his latest device for mass torture. The very sight of the contraption was enough to make Dry Bones' head fall right off his shoulders. It was just that overwhelming.

. . .

So while the group of fiends were having their own disputes, confusions, and arguments, the heroes were once again making their way to the big Blooper. Peach seemed simply satisfied that they had seen the leaning tower, but people like Toadette were upset that they to swim the canal, walk all the way back around, and climb once again to the attraction they had been waiting all day for.

"It's okay Toadette," Mario assured as they started to get closer. "We'll still be able to see it!"

Toadette nodded with a tiny smile. "Oh, I know. It's just kind of frustrating that we had to make our way around the entire canal just to get back to where we were…"

"I thought it was thrilling, actually," Birdo interrupted. "If we hadn't been blown into the water, we wouldn't have seen as many sights! This city is very beautiful, and I'm glad we managed to get as much as we could from it!"

"She's right," Luigi agreed.

"Well, the next time we see Bowser, we'll have to thank him!" Peach giggled.

"Yeah, thank him for giving us an unnecessary and explosive bath!" complained Daisy. "I wouldn't be surprised if he showed his ugly mug around here one last time…"

"I just love how he thinks he's so clever with such lame plans," snickered Mario. "He never learns…"

"No wonder he's so incompetent…" Birdo mused.

Finally, the group began to reach the top of the canal. A giant fountain with cyan-colored path crowned the very top of the canal, with Toadette getting excited all over again. Before anyone could stop her, or before she could be blown off another bridge, she rushed up the steps, not stopping until her prize was in her sights. Everyone knew she was there when she shouted-

"EEEEEII! THE GIANT BLOOPER!"

By the time the rest of the gang caught up, Toadette was running in frantic circles and quickly began to beg for Birdo's camera. Birdo handed her the camera, and the mushroom girl began snapping pics of the animal like no tomorrow.

"Oh, this is so cool!" she laughed. "C'mon guys! Get more pumped! We're seeing a wonder of the world right here!"

"It is rather impressive," Birdo said with a nod, gazing at the large sea creature.

"Yeah, well, I've battled a few large Bloopers in my day…" Mario started to brag, hands held smugly behind his head. "They're not so hard to deal with!"

"Mario! How could you harm such a peaceful creature? !" Toadette snapped, glaring over in the plumber's direction.

"I, uh, well…they were trying to kill me! What was I supposed to do? Become fish food for a fish?"

"First of all, this is a squid we're talking about- significant difference. Second, there is no need to harm such a marvel of nature!"

"What about if they start juggling you?" Luigi asked.

"What makes you say that?" Daisy asked.

"Because it's JUGGLING ME! AAAIII!"

A double glance at the Blooper revealed Luigi, in fact, being juggled by the Blooper. Daisy gasped, Mario face palmed, Birdo and Peach shook their heads, and Toadette continued to take pictures. It continued like this until a Shy Guy that worked at the canal showed up.

"Hey! Little girl!" he exclaimed, starting to run up to Toadette. Toadette lowered the camera and turned to the Shy Guy.

"Well, hi! Is something the matter?"

"Uh, yeah! NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY! It makes the Blooper restless and he, well, juggles extra objects out of confusion!"

"…are plumbers on that list of extra objects?"

"Will someone help me? !" Luigi wailed. "Today would be excellent!"

The Shy Guy quickly took action, diving into the fountain with a dramatic splash. Everyone gathers around as they watched him swim up to the Blooper, followed by latching himself onto its slippery exterior. He professionally started to climb up the side, positioning himself on top of the Blooper's head. When Luigi was tossed into the air again, the Shy Guy reached out and snagged his arm, pulling him to safety and bringing him out of the Blooper's domain.

"…well, now we know why to never use the flash," Daisy said while blinking. Toadette made a face and gave the camera back to Birdo, who tucked it safely back into her bag.

Luigi, meanwhile, was struggling to stay standing after his high-flying maneuver. Eventually he toppled into Mario while the rest of the group listened to Shy Guy to hear what he had to say.

"Wow, that was probably the most eventful moment of my life…ahem, I mean, uh, welcome to Grand Canal's main attraction, which I'm all sure you know what it is by now…"

"Giant Juggling Blooper!" cheered Toadette, fighting the urge to take more pictures.

"Yes, and basically, it can only do one thing…"

The Shy Guy produced three colored balls: red, yellow, and blue. With quick flicks of his wrists, he flung the ball towards the blooper, who caught them casually with his tentacles and began to juggle them in a systematic fashion. Toadette squealed again and nearly knocked Birdo over trying to get camera back while the rest of the crew whistled, impressed.

"…and yet, that's all it can do?" Daisy asked. The Shy Guy nodded.

"That would be correct, yes."

"Despite that, people still come from all over just to see it juggle…" Luigi said groggily, sneaking a look at Toadette. The Shy Guy nodded one again.

"Yeppers. It still amazes me how people come just too se one Blooper do one thing…"

"Well, there is one thing it can do…"

Everyone except Toadette stopped what they were doing at the sound of the newcomer voice. The owner emerged from the other side of the fountain, donning a wide smile and a shy wave. No one seemed more surprised, or happy, to see him than Birdo was.

"YOSHI!" Birdo exclaimed, running over to him instantly. Everyone else caught sight of the green dinosaur as well and quickly gathered around. The Shy Guy just looked indifferent.

"Oh, hey. Look who's here. It's...that guy."

Yoshi nodded as Birdo refused to let go of him. "Yeah, I decided to make a surprise visit, so here I am!"

"I thought you weren't coming!" Daisy exclaimed.

"I wasn't...but I found out that I had a bit of free time after all and said why not?"

Toadette was less interested about Yoshi and more interested in the fact that they finally got to see the giant Blooper. She continued to watch, mesmerized, as it juggled the trio of colored balls seemingly endlessly.

"Oh man, I've waited the entire trip to witness this!" she gushed.

"Well, then I guess your trip is about to get better!"

"What do you mean by that?" Mario asked. Yoshi smirked.

"See, there's a special game you can play with the Giant Blooper...I'll explain more, if you care to try it?"

Toadette, Birdo, and Luigi instantly screamed in excitement. "YEAH!"

A double take ensued, and everyone turned to look at Luigi. Luigi noticed everyone suddenly staring at him and gulped.

"Wh-what? It sounds like fun..."

"Anyway Yoshi," Peach continued, turning back to the dinosaur. "How does the game go?"

Yoshi motioned to the Blooper, and the Shy Guy walked over and took away the colored balls. He muttered something about "trying to avoid this", but no one really heard him. Toadette frowned for a moment until the balls were replaced by four brown chests.

"The goal of the game is to win a prize! Blooper will juggle these chests around, and you've gotta pick one with a prize in it! One chest has a bag of coins, one chest has nothing, one chest has a Star...and one chest has a Ztar, so try to be careful!"

"Ooh, this'll be easy!" Daisy said confidently. "There's almost nothing to it!"

"I wouldn't be too sure..." Yoshi practically sang. The Shy Guy shut the chests, and the Blooper began to juggle them. "Who wants to go first?"

"Me! Me!" shouted Peach and Toadette, so the Shy Guy chose Peach to go first.

"I'll go after Toadette," Mario offered.

"I'll go after Mario!" cried Luigi.

"Me next!" Daisy yelped.

"And I guess I'll go last," Birdo shrugged. "I don't mind!"

"Then let's begin!" Yoshi exclaimed, gesturing to the Blooper as he ceased juggling. Peach walked up first, pondering over which box to pick. Eventually, she pointed at the third one, and the Shy Guy opened it.

"Dang it, I got nothing," the princess pouted slightly, folding her arms and walking off to side. Toadette skipped up next, and the Blooper shuffled the chests around again. The toad girl made sure to pay close attention, so when it was her turn to pick, she chose the first chest.

"I got the bag of coins!" she cheered, pulling out her prize and waving it around ecstatically. Everyone congratulated her as Mario stepped up, looking quite eager. The Shy Guy replaced the previous bag of coins with a new one, and cued the Blooper to start the juggling. Mario rubbed his hands together furiously.

"C'mon, Star or coins! Star or coins!"

He picked the first box again once the Blooper was finished, only for nothing to pop out. Raising an eyebrow, he peered into the box, only to be pelted in the face by the Ztar flying out.

"Ooh, too bad Mario, you lost," Yoshi tisked. Mario gave Yoshi a look with one of his eyes, considering the other one was covered up by his hand.

"I think losing the game is the least of my worries at the moment."

"That doesn't make me feel very confident since Mario lost," Luigi trembled, not noticing the stare he received from his brother afterwards. The Shy Guy threw in another Ztar, and the game began again. Luigi nervously shifted his eyes to and from each box, finally settling on the third one. Nervously, he reached his hand in, only for his face to light up upon what he grabbed.

"I got some coins too!" cried Luigi, dancing around. "I didn't lose!"

"I didn't lose either," Mario grumpily pointed out. "I won myself a shining black eye!"

As Mario and Luigi burst into a miniature argument, Daisy decided to take her turn. She had a bold look on her face as she watched the boxes, then promptly choose the fourth chest. Yoshi had to snicker slightly when she ended up with nothing.

"What? This was rigged!" Daisy cried, shaking her fist. Peach felt her palm make contact with her forehead.

"You just picked the wrong box is all," Luigi shrugged, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll split my coins with you if you'd like..."

Daisy's anger quickly melted away at Luigi's kindness, and she nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'd like that...thanks, Luigi!"

Birdo decided to take her turn. She walked up to the Blooper and smiled when she noticed Yoshi giving her a thumbs up. The Shy Guy put in another bag of coins, and the game started up again. Birdo kept a close eye on the chests, hoping that she'd win a prize as well...and hopefully not ending up like Mario.

"Pick a chest, Birdo!" Yoshi urged. Birdo put on a worried look, but finally decided on the third chest and cracked it open. Everyone's jaws dropped when the item popped out.

"You got a Star! ?" Peach, Mario, and Daisy gaped. Luigi, Toadette, and Yoshi just burst out into cheers. Birdo, slightly shocked as the Star floated into her grasp, laughed in happiness and held it above her head.

"Way to go, Birdo!" Yoshi praised, dancing around.

"Well...at least someone managed to get a Star," Peach said with a small smile.

"Could you have asked for a better ending to a great trip, Birdo?" Toadette asked, draping her arm over Birdo's shoulders. "You had fun, you won a star, and you even got to see Yoshi!"

Birdo grinned. "You know what? I guess I couldn't have!"

"We should so take a trip like this again sometime," Luigi suggested.

"Ooh, that sounds cool!" Toadette agreed.

"And next time," Yoshi began. "I'll hopefully be there!"

"And I won't get poked in the eye!" Mario threw in, causing everyone to start cracking up. Mario had meant for it to come out sounding bitter, but the good mood everyone was in caused him to be in one as well. As he joined in on the laughter, the air behind them started to distort as a certain ghost decided to appear.

"Hi guys…" Boo said softly, yet loud enough for Luigi to hear. One glance at the ghoul and Luigi was shivering behind Mario. Noticing Luigi suddenly cowering in fear, the rest of the group took note of Boo's presence.

"What're you doing here?" Daisy questioned instantly. "This is a private trip, plus we went out of our way to make sure you didn't come!"

"Only because we didn't want you scaring Luigi," Peach added, giving her best friend a stern look. "Otherwise we would have loved to have you, Boo."

"Why are you here anyway, and I don't mean that in a mean way…" Toadette trailed as she stared at the Boo. She noticed he was disheartened and didn't want to hurt him anymore than necessary. Boo just shrugged.

"Well, I just saw you guys all having fun together and I thought it'd be fun if I could join in too…"

"No," Luigi said instantly, still hiding behind Mario. "I don't want to take the risk!"

Boo frowned. "I understand why you wouldn't want to have me…"

"Actually," Birdo began, stepping forward. "I suppose it would be all right. I mean, what harm could it do?"

"But you have to promise to not scare Luigi…or anyone, for that matter," Mario added. Boo perked up within the second he heard those words and nodded furiously.

"Okay! And I'll even completely avoid Luigi if you'd like! I won't even look at him!"

"Hey, speaking of…" Peach realized, looking all over the place. "Um…has anyone seen Dry Bones?"

Everyone froze, including Boo, who was in the middle of a victory dance.

"Wow, I didn't even notice he was gone," Luigi admitted shamefully, coming out of hiding.

"I don't think I've seen him at all!" Toadette exclaimed.

"He was here when we docked…." recalled Birdo.

"So…where'd he go?" Daisy asked. Just as Boo was about to come clean and reveal everything that Dry Bone was up to, he quickly found out that there was no need to. A loud deep cackle rang out, and all eight heads turned to the bridge to their right.

There was Dry Bones, standing next to Bowser.

"Speak of the devil…" Boo muttered under his breath, giving his friend a hidden glance. Dry Bones was too busy staring hard at the ground to notice.

"Well, what do you know?" Daisy said curiously.

"Why in the world are you with Bowser?" Luigi guffawed. Before Dry Bones could say anything, if he even planned to say anything, Bowser stepped in and chortled again.

"Gra ha ha ha! Isn't it obvious? Dry Bones works for me! The mere fact you invited him to this little trip makes this revenge all the sweeter for me!"

"You should've invited me instead," Boo scoffed, only to be swatted at.

"And thanks to Dry Bones, he helped me pinpoint your location!" Bowser continued, looking sinister. "And now I'm going to unleash my most ultimate scheme yet! GRAH HA HA HA HA!"

He reached into his shell, making a few members of the group paralyze with fear. Mario, naturally, stepped in front of everyone, waiting to see what Bowser was going to use against them. He slowly pulled his item of torture out of his shell, unnerving everyone bit by bit.

In one quick move, he whipped out a camera and snapped a photo of them all huddled together. Since everyone was stunned by the sudden flash, it gave Bowser just enough time to swipe ten coins from each of them, and even managing to snag an extra ten from Luigi.

"BAH HA HA HA! You don't even know what hit you!" Bowser cried, starting to run away. "Hasta la vista, SUCKERS!"

Everyone was left gaping as Bowser made a getaway with quite a lot of loot.

"…well THAT was intelligent."

"Bowser certainly isn't as threatening as he was back in the day…"

"He stole some of my money…"

"He stole ALL my money!"

There was an awkward silence in the air, not sure what to make of Bowser's latest torturous strike against them. Some of the group was even ashamed that they had even cowered at that. It remained like this until Boo nudged Toadette and pointed back to Dry Bones, who was still looking downcast. Toadette blinked and turned to living set of bones.

"Hey, what's up with you?"

"And what do you have to say for yourself?" huffed Daisy. "Selling us out to Bowser, honestly! You should be lucky that Bowser wasn't too serious this time around!"

Dry Bones shrugged, still staring at the ground. "I don't know…what to say…" He glanced up. "But I suppose I should start by apologizing."

"YOU JERK- I mean…eh…what?" Yoshi blurted out, only to take it back rather quickly.

"I…guess I'm sorry for ditching you when you were nice enough to bother inviting me…" Dry Bones' gaze turned to Boo, and Boo folded his arms. "And I'm sorry to you for being a bit jerkish…Bowser may be my boss, but sometimes it's good to take a break here and there…"

He then smirked. "Besides, we all know Bowser certainly isn't the hottest flame in the fire."

Everyone laughed lightly, then Dry Bones frowned slightly again. "So…will you forgive me?"

"No," Toadette said instantly, and everyone whirled around to gawk at her. "…well, it's totally cheesy to_ always_ forgive someone! I mean, why not change it up a little?"

"Because I actually _do_ forgive my best friend?" Boo asked, patting him on the back. Toadette shrugged.

"Okay then. We forgive you, Dry Bones!"

"Hard to tell if we really mean it, or if we're just required to forgive," Luigi muttered under her breath, only to be playfully shoved by his brother.

"Either way," Boo began, flying circles around everyone. "Can we get back to what we came here for? Party! Party! Eee hee hee hee!"

"But, well, we've pretty much seen all there is to see…" trailed Peach unsurely. Dry Bones, upon hearing this, broke out into a smirk.

"I don't think you've seen everything…" he began, pulling out a small remote control. With a small grin, everyone watched as he pushed the single button on the remote.

Not too far off, Bowser was still running away from the group and cackling in the wind. His arms were filled with coins, and he wasn't paying attention to the fact that he was dropping quite a few.

"Mwhahaha! I've totally won this one! Nothing can make this day worse after all the suffering I've caused!"

Bowser continued to laugh his way onto the bridge, where as soon as he stepped foot on it, it burst into pieces, leaving him to go toppling into the canal. The group had seen what had happened from where they were and burst into laughter.

"Ha, serves him right!" Daisy called, pointing and laughing like crazy.

"We were going to use that to blow you guys up, but it looks like I found I better cause…" said Dry Bones with a shrug.

"Well way to go!" Boo cheered, holding up his hand for a high-five.

"My, it's certainly been such a dramatic time…" Birdo stated. "It was definitely more than I bargained for!"

"I can agree with that," Yoshi said, chuckling. He then noticing Peach running over to him anxiously.

"Hey Yoshi! Can I play the Blooper game again? I'd like to try to win something this time!"

"Yeah, can I have another go at it too?" Mario asked. "I wanna get revenge on that Ztar!"

Yoshi let out a light laugh and gestured to the Blooper. "Sure! You can play as many times as you'd like!"

Mario and Peach grinned at each other before arguing over who would get to go first. Daisy watched them for a little bit, before turning to Luigi who was watching them as well. Gaining a secretive smirk, she snuck over to Luigi and lightly tickled his sides.

However this scared him greatly and caused him to jump in the water and soak Yoshi, Daisy, Mario, and Peach. Daisy just blinked and started laughing.

"I certainly wasn't expecting you to do that!"

"I wasn't expecting you to do that either," Luigi said dangerously, draining water out of his ear. As Daisy continued to laugh, Luigi jumped out of the water and grabbed her arm, pulling her back down with him. A second splash rose into the air, drenching Yoshi, Mario, and Peach once again.

"You guys can't flirt somewhere a little less wet?" Yoshi grunted.

"Hey! I got a Star!" Peach cheered, completely oblivious of the fact she was dripping water like a waterfall. Mario just gawked at the object before grumbling something under his breath. He returned his attention back to game while Toadette and Birdo just enjoyed what was going on. Toadette snuck a glance at Birdo and grinned.

"I told you so."

Birdo blinked and gave Toadette a confused look.

"I told you we'd have a good time, plus I had a feeling that Yoshi would arrive after all! That's two for me, Birdo zip!"

"So you were right about a few things, dear…" Birdo admitted. "Maybe I shouldn't have doubted everything so much."

"There's always next time!" Toadette pointed out. She then glanced over her shoulder and stared at Boo and Dry Bones. "And maybe next time, there's won't be so many complications…"

"But the complications make things interesting!"

"Can't argue with that…"

"…and all in all, this day turned out well," Boo declared, finishing his rant and holding his hands behind his head. Dry Bones had his arms folded, appearing indifferent to it all. They were staring out over the entirety of the canal, reflecting on the day.

"Yes, after suffering through all the misadventures today, I suppose it ended on a high note."

"It did," Boo protested. "We're buddies again! I think that's a reason to celebrate!"

"I suppose…"

"Hmph. Where do you suppose Bowser got off to?"

Dry Bones shrugged, and Boo threw up his arms in frustration. "It doesn't matter where he is, as long as he isn't here…but I better buy some fire retardant spray for the next time I see him."

Boo just started cackling from some unknown reason, and all Dry Bones could do was stare at him like he was nuts.

. . .

As the group was continuing to enjoy what the Grand Canal had to offer, Bowser had pulled himself out of the canal after drifting for around half an hour, and was now sitting on the dock, pouting.

"Great…I've lost my coins, my enemies got their revenge, I currently have no minions, I'm wet, cold, and tired, I want a sandwich, and my plans have utterly failed. AGAIN! GRAH!"

He stood up and started rampaging throughout the dock, causing quite a ruckus. He spewing fire into the air, stomped on the ground…and eventually it got so out of hand that it made several resident Shy Guys come out of their homes to give him a piece of their minds.

"Just what do you think one doing? !" one shouted, shaking a fist.

"Some of us are trying to take an afternoon nap!"

"You're causing an earthquake!"

"Silence, mortals!" Bowser roared. "I am King Bowser, and I can throw a fit on the middle of a dock if I want to! And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Oh yeah?" the first Shy Guy snapped, pulling out a Spiny Shell and chucking it at him. "PELT HIM, GUYS!"

Before Bowser even knew what was going on, he found himself caught in a violent rain of coins and Spiny Shells.

"OW! What in the world? ! Where are you even getting all these from- MY FACE! MY STOMACH! MY BACK!"

The Shy Guys quickly declared victory as soon as Bowser was completely submerged in coins and shells. He wouldn't be bothering anyone else…at least, until next Tuesday. Someone had to kidnap a princess every week.

* * *

**I...finished...this? ZOMG. **

**Anyway, I deeply apologize for the long wait. I truly don't want to give up on this story, because I have so many good ideas for future chapters and I'd hate to see them all go to waste...I can't promise the next update will be fast (never make promises!), but I refuse to give up on this fic. :)**


	8. Act 1, Episode 8

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 8: DK's Jungle Temple

Hidden within the farthest recesses of the jungle was a stoic temple, built around the trees and wove through all the branches. Placed at the center was a massive stone statue of DK, standing on a group of stairs that seemingly led to nowhere…

…but were supposedly guarding the treasure.

. . .

Also deep within the jungle, just on the outskirts of the temple itself in fact, lurked a group of beings, simply sitting on the ground and staring at a piece of paper.

At least, that's what it would look like from far away.

At a closer glance, you would see a squid and a skeleton plopped on a stump, with a ghost hovering beside them. Standing up and marching around would be a green armored turtle, poking the paper with a stick.

But no matter where you were, you'd be able to hear this:

"We're going to steal that treasure and pull off the best get rich quick scheme _ever_!"

Hammer Bro. might as well have stood at the highest point in the jungle and yelled through a megaphone- several birds had fled to safety after being startled.

"HB, keep it down!" shrieked Blooper, glancing around nervously and already uncomfortable with the fact that he was so far away from the sea- he didn't need unwanted attention to add to that. "What if _he_ realizes we're here…"

"Donkey Kong isn't going to find us here because _he_ isn't here," scoffed Boo, looking confident. "No one has seen him for weeks, ever since he came across that treasure and vowed to protect it at any cost…"

"He's probably still where he located it," Dry Bones pointed out. "Which is why I'm not entirely sure why we're in this jungle…"

"That's because," Hammer Bro. began, slamming his stick onto the plans once more. "It's possible that DK has more than one treasure. There are records of a treasure being hidden in this place long before DK found that bunch of golden bananas…perhaps there's something hidden here that could make us** far** more wealthy!"

"I still don't know why you needed me to come, Hammer Bro.," Blooper whimpered meekly. "I'm not really that good in the field…"

"Nonsense," Hammer Bro. protested. "You and me are gonna get rich, I'll be able to buy a golden hammer, and you'll be able to buy that sea side shanty you've always wanted."

"And I'll buy myself a whole castle for myself!" cackled Boo. "If I don't find one to haunt first! I'll be just like King Boo, and he can haunt mansions and manors single handedly!"

"I still believe this is a ridiculous idea," muttered Dry Bones.

"It's completely safe- remember, no one's here but us!" Hammer Bro. reminded him. "The last line of defense for the treasure is the fact that it's hidden away in a secret section of the temple…the way only opened by stepping on a secret switch!"

"How do you know all of that?" questioned Boo. Hammer Bro. shrugged.

"I read a book. Anyway…"

Hammer Bro. returned everyone's attention to the plans, placed before them so they could all see. It was a map of the entire temple that they were about to raid, with all its secrets and traps revealed.

"As we know, we are at the very base of this intelligently designed temple, and somewhere within this temple is the treasure we're looking for. And if everything I've researched is correct, the treasure should be located around here-"

He jabbed his stick into the center of the schematic, just at the base of the DK Statue.

"Now, the hard part is finding the switch, the easy part is getting to that location. We just have to avoid some of the obstacles that are in the way, and we're home free!"

"Wait, wait, wait, you didn't say anything about obstacles before," Dry Bones and Boo interrupted.

Hammer Bro. folded his arms. "Yes I did! The Ukikis that live here, giant blue dinosaur, wild Piranha Plants growing in the rich soil…and a waterslide that, if accidentally triggered, will send us right back to square one and force us to climb the temple again, which we do not want."

"What about the cannons everywhere?" Blooper asked, raising a tentacle.

"Those…I am unsure about. I mean, sure they could help us, but it also might hinder our progress. So it may be in our best interest to avoid them."

Blooper nodded, Boo chortled in agreement, and Dry Bones knew this plan was doomed to failure. Despite this, when Hammer Bro. rolled up the plans and stuffed them in his shell, Dry Bones sighed and followed after Hammer Bro. anyway.

"This is it, guys! On to adventure!"

Hammer Bro. ran off the left, the greedy thoughts of being rich slowly consuming him and leading the way. Boo was right behind him, unable to contain his excitement of buying a place all for himself. Dry Bones had the least amount of motivation out of everyone in the group, but for some reason found himself tagging along anyway.

And as for Blooper…maybe he'd just get lucky during the trip.

. . .

"Are you sure were even going the right way?"

"I'm sure we passed a shortcut somewhere back there."

"Oh, what if we get caught snooping where we don't belong…? Wooooo…"

Hammer Bro. refused to respond to Boo's incompetence, Dry Bone's (lack of) enthusiasm, and Blooper's pessimism, simply trudging through the forest and trying to find their way. Perhaps there was a shortcut, or maybe they were going to wrong way…but the journey was just as important as the destination, right?

"I really don't think the way to the statue is here," scoffed Boo, folding his stubby pale arms.

"Well of course!" Hammer Bro. shot back, shaking his head. "Do you really think DK would put up a bunch of signs saying 'Oh, secret treasure this way! All thieves steal whenever the time is convenient!'?"

"So far all we've found are trees, a small pool of water, and a rainbow! What good is _that_ supposed to do us?"

Hammer Bro. and Boo proceeded to start yelling at each other, with Dry Bones standing on the sidelines and sighing to himself. However, once he heard a surprised scream, Dry Bones whirled around to find Blooper being devoured by an adorable blue dinosaur.

"-and you have no taste in clothes, so there!" finished Boo, huffed and glancing away.

"At least I wear them!"

"I'm a ghost!"

"Sorry to interrupt this absolutely captivating conversation, but there's a dinosaur behind you and he's currently dining on some calamari."

Instantly, Hammer Bro. and Boo's bickering dissolved out of existence as they faced the blue dinosaur. Innocent at a first glance; secretly it was tired of salads.

"Blooper! Are you all right?" Hammer Bro. shouted, running toward the dinosaur and staring up at the squid. Blooper shifted uncomfortably, but gave a weak smile at his friend.

"Yeah for now…the teeth are really blunt, so they haven't pierced into me yet."

"Whew. Thanks for that image." Hammer Bro. made a face. "But don't worry! We'll getcha down!"

"Take your time…no rush…"

Hammer Bro. took a deep breath and thought to himself. He could always bonk it on the head with a hammer, but then there was the risk of hitting Blooper.

"I could hit it with a bone," suggested Dry Bones, as if he could read Hammer Bro.'s thoughts.

"No, because then you might hit Blooper too."

"How about I scare the living daylights out of it?" cackled Boo, already floating his way up to the front of the dinosaur. He covered his face, with the dinosaur looking on curiously and Blooper poking out of its mouth.

Boo then removing his arms and revealed a highly terrifying face, with protruding fangs and beady black eyes to compliment the horror. The cute blue dinosaur instantly jumped two steps backward and roared, dropping Blooper and sending the squid plummeting to a different sort of doom.

"This plan wasn't though out very well!" Blooper yelled on the way down.

"I've got you!" Hammer Bro. shouted, running toward Blooper's landing spot. Though, he crashed into Dry Bones, scattering him to pieces, and he ended up tripping over one of his ribs. "Well, that's marvelous."

Stuck on the ground, he was forced to watch as Blooper fell…right into the pond of water. The rainbow above it was distorted for a few moments, but it quickly returned back to a perfect state.

"Hooray!" the squid cheered, enjoying the surprisingly refreshing dip. Hammer Bro. picked himself up and chuckled.

"What do ya know?"

Dry Bones huffed as he reassembled himself, glancing up at Boo. "Do you sometimes feel like our lives are scripted sometimes?"

Boo shook his head. "Nah, I feel more like we're stuck in a video game or a really bad fanfiction. Same train of thought, though."

. . .

Once the raiders managed to get away from the cute yet crazy blue dinosaur, Hammer Bro. continued on, leading his increasingly reluctant team to the temple, locating a ladder that he knew for sure had to lead up to the statue. Determined, he began to climb, with Boo floating behind, Dry Bones praying that he wouldn't fall to pieces again, and Blooper's tentacles constantly getting tangled up in the rungs.

"Oh, can someone help me…"

"Just when we finally start getting somewhere…"groaned Boo. Hammer Bro. jumped down to untangle Blooper once more.

"Like I said," huffed the squid, once he managed reached the top of the third ladder. "I'm not that spectacular in the field. Couldn't I have been look out or something?"

"You're fine, Blooper," Hammer Bro. assured, keeping an eye out for their next place of interest. "Just keep looking for any places that look suspicious- anything could be a key to reaching the treasure!"

"This is going to backfire," declared Dry Bones, but joined Blooper in prodding through a bush. Boo stuck his tongue out and checked . As Hammer Bro. searched thoroughly under a rock, something rustled in the trees, but all four baddies assumed that it was just the wind. However, when a rock conked Hammer Bro. in the back of the head, it was pretty obvious something was amiss.

"Good thing I'm wearing a helmet," Hammer Bro. grumbled, adjusting said headgear back into place. He glanced at the ground and kicked the projectile that hit him, only to be pelted by another. "What the heck-?"

He happened to glance up, only to become face to face with five angry Ukikis. The monkeys screeched and howled at the intruders to their home, and the simian instinct told them that they were up to no good. Hammer Bro. was completely oblivious to the threat before him.

"Stupid Ukikis! Who do they have a bone to pick with?"

"Apparently us," Dry Bones deadpanned, hardly batting an eye as three of the Ukikis went to go fetch a plethora of barrels. They shoved them in the direction of the baddies, with the other two monkeys cheering wildly. Boo yelped and instantly attempted to out run the barrels, while Dry Bones was crushed by one and was once more reduced to a pile of bones.

"Aaah! Wait for me, Hammer Bro.!" Blooper yelped, struggling to keep up with the rest of the group. Hammer Bro. slowly down to grab Blooper, bolting away from a barrel that was getting ready to roll right over him. They managed to catch up with Boo, who was looking very panic stricken, even though he was the one that had nothing to worry about.

The Ukikis, meanwhile, were mad that they had missed their targets, but at least they had succeeded in chasing them away and giving the group a warning.

Hammer Bro. scowled at the monkeys, only to be clonked with another rock and sent to the ground. Boo and Blooper, afterwards, were showered with the Ukikis throwing the pieces of Dry Bones at them, the skeleton reassembling himself moments later.

Okay," Dry Bones said, expression completely emotionless. "That could've gone a little better."

. . .

The group was practically back where they started, aimlessly wandering around the temple and wondering how they were supposed to go up when the Ukikis certainly wouldn't let them. They kept looking for signs of anything, even though they all knew it was utterly pointless. Eventually Hammer Bro. came to a stop, plopped himself on the ground, and sighed. Blooper noticed how distraught he seemed and sauntered over to him.

"HB, we'd better get going. If we stay out in the open like this, we'll be spotted for sure!"

"Hmph, I'm not worried about the Ukikis-"

"I am!" cried Boo. "If those oversized rats find out we haven't left the temple, they'll probably throw _more_ than barrels and rocks! There's no way we can get up higher if they're guarding the ladders, so we might as well just pack it up and quit while we still have dignity."

"I'm surprised you're the first to give up," Dry Bones admitted, appearing completely indifferent.

Feeling utterly lost, Hammer Bro. began to pace frantically until Dry Bones' bony hand put a stop to it.

"Look, if you're so worried about getting the treasure, then there's still one thing that can help us."

"Oh yeah, what? A secret passage that you oh so conveniently discovered?"

"No, but it's something just as useful! …maybe."

Dry Bones then pointed off to the right, where a large brown cannon was simply sitting in the grass, looking abandoned and very unused. Hammer Bro. stopped fretting on the spot as Boo gave Dry Bones a look.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"If you actually pay attention to anything anyone says," Dry Bones began to explain. "Then you would know that those cannons have the ability to send us right to the area where the switch is at."

"…ah. I see what you're getting at. We follow the direction the cannon's pointing!"

"…how about getting in the cannon?"

"Hmm. That may work as well."

Dry Bones promptly face palmed as Hammer Bro. turned the cannon to aim at the DK Statue, which could be seen peeking out over the trees. There was nothing that could go wrong this time!

Now aimed at their destination, Hammer Bro. felt hopeful again, climbing into the cannon with his friends climbed into the cannon, expecting it to automatically launch them to their desired destination. However, they were suddenly whipped about in the cannon, as if it had been altered to aim farther to the left. In a jumbled heap, all the baddies froze, unsure of what to make of that.

"Did…we just move?" whispered Blooper.

"Either that or it was one heck of a breeze," whistled Hammer Bro. "I bet it was nothing though."

"Then what caused that jolt?" Boo questioned.

Before Dry Bones could poke his head out to double check, the cannon abruptly fired, the group rocketing out to an undetermined location. Hammer Bro., Boo, and Blooper appropriately screamed at the top of their lungs, but Dry Bones was still mulling over what forced the cannon to abruptly change direction like that…

However, he ran out of time to ponder over it, for the group had crashed somewhere at the top of the temple, yes…but completely overshooting their destination. Hammer Bro. recovered from the flight the fastest, jumping to his feet and surveying the new surroundings.

It was much brighter, now that they were higher up and closer to the sun…and not being shaded by the mass of trees. Hammer Bro. glanced to his right, seeing that they were right next to the statue…the problem was, they were too high, and the only way to reach the base would be to go back around…and probably find a way to get past the Ukikis.

"Ugh, this is beautiful," sighed Hammer Bro., shaking his head. "Oh well, no point in staying here. Better get going before we're stuck in dark, right guys…guys?"

"I've already almost been eaten once today!" Blooper yelled, catching Hammer Bro.'s attention.

"Yikes! What happened? !"

The turtle looked on as Dry Bones had once again succumbed to a mere pile, with the exception of his arm that was being chewed and drooled on by a Piranha Plant. Blooper was trapped in the jaws of a Piranha Plant as well, with Boo tempted to tug the jaws off of Blooper but passing through the plant every time.

Hammer Bro. saw a third Piranha Plant emerge out of a green pipe, snapping at him and craving a snack as well. Hammer Bro. grunted and started throwing hammers, each of them hacking into the Piranha Plants' stems and severing them. Blooper fell to the ground, although still being clutched by sharp teeth. Dry Bones' arm was returned to ground, and Boo assisted in putting him back together.

"Yeah! Take that, weeds!" Hammer Bro. cheered, dancing around.

"That was…oddly effective," Dry Bones realized, once he was able to stand again.

"And now that that's over, what's our next bad luck decision?" Boo asked as he glared at Hammer Bro. Hammer Bro. pulled out the map and pointed out their current location- the upper left part of the temple.

"Well…we need to get back down to the bottom of the DK Statue, as we are currently above the statue. However…this involves walking all the way back around and facing the Ukikis again."

"Oh joy…" groaned Blooper.

"Is this even worth it?" asked Dry Bones, tired of ending up in a heap every ten minutes. "I mean, we're bad guys. That means were bound to fail at everything we do."

"So pessimistic!" groaned Boo, floating around to face Dry Bones. He gave the skeleton a smack, causing Dry Bones' skull to spin around several times. "So we made a few blunders so far…I want to give up too, but, like, I have nothing better to do today…"

"That was inspiring," Hammer Bro. grumbled sarcastically, folding up the map and storing it away once again. "But come on. At least we're becoming closer and sharing a bond, right?"

"Boo! I wanna get rich!" exclaimed Boo, flying around in crazy circles. Hammer Bro. heaved a really heavy sigh as Blooper trotted up to him and poked his arm.

"I'm still with you, HB," the squid promised, hiding the fact that he was ready to throw in the towel as well. He didn't want that sea shanty THAT badly… but it definitely wasn't compensation for almost getting eaten twice in one day.

However, seeing Hammer Bro.'s restored confidence made Blooper happy too, so he said nothing more.

"At least someone's with me," Hammer Bro. huffed, beginning to walk across the platform that Statue DK held up. "I'm going to get rich, and I can almost smell the treasure! Anyone who willing to come is welcome to join me."

Blooper winced slightly but obediently followed behind Hammer Bro. Boo came along too, seeing as he really didn't have anything better to do. Dry Bones eventually realized he was left alone before clacking after the rest of the group.

. . .

On the far right side of the temple, the group was still searching for a way back to the lower levels so they could reach the base of the statue without having to bypass the Ukikis. However, unbeknownst to them, someone had other ideas…someone working in the shadows-

"Mmm, I'm hungry."

"Boo, everything you eat goes right through you."

"I know! How else do you think I maintain this slim figure? You could stand to intake a little protein, as a matter of fact."

Dry Bones refused to respond, instead turning his attention to Hammer Bro. and Blooper, who were once again parting bushes and looking under rocks.

"I hope you both know that's going to get you nowhere."

"Nonsense," Hammer Bro. protest, lifting another rock. "DK can't have very intelligent hiding spots…"

"What are you looking for?" Boo asked, floating over and looking very confused.

"Something! Anything! We've hit a dead end!"

Blooper then pulled away from the search, leaving Hammer Bro. to frantically search for some way to progress. He managed to weave his tentacle into Hammer Bro.'s shell and pull out the map. He unfolded it and began to look at it, with Dry Bones and Boo peering over his shoulders.

However, despite all three of them being whitish to begin with, they all blanched.

"You guys could be helping, you know!" Hammer Bro. exclaimed, now desperately clawing up dirt.

"Um, Hammer Bro…" Blooper squeaked, eyes darting around nervously.

"You do know what area we're in, right?" Dry Bones asked.

Suddenly, something moved in the thicket by Hammer Bro. that went unnoticed by the turtle, but made the other three jump in surprise.

"Dude, Hammer Bro…" Boo trailed. "How can you be so oblivious?"

"What are you guys _talking_ about?" Hammer Bro. cried, whirling around in bewilderment. However, no one could say anything else, because a powerful force suddenly sent the four of them careening off the edge of the temple…and right onto the waterslide.

"Augh! Water!" Boo hissed, floating away from the substance but still following the group down the spiral.

"Yay! Water!" cheered Blooper, thriving in it.

"Is _this_ what you guys were talking about?" Hammer Bro. yelled, struggling so much that he managed to spin himself upside down.

"Well, yes and no," Dry Bones explained. "The waterslide isn't as big a deal now…but what the heck pushed us?"

"It could've been a really strong wind," Blooper suggested, swimming alongside them.

"Are you kidding? It was probably that figure that we saw not even three minutes ago!" howled Boo.

"What figure?" Hammer Bro. demanded to know.

"That might've been what turned the cannon around, if it really wasn't the wind," deduced Dry Bones.

"Whatever it was, it really packed a punch…" Blooper noticed, ceasing his swimming to observe a bruise on his tentacle. Hammer Bro. eventually gave up asking questions and decided to go with the flow and see where it took him…literally.

. . .

After trudging back around to the front of the temple and leaving soaked steps in their wake, the group of wannabe bandits returned back to the original source of all their problems:

The ladders, and the Ukikis that prevented them from climbing up them.

"We will not be stopped this time!" Hammer Bro. declared valiantly, raising a hammer to the sky. "We will do what we can to show those monkeys just who they're dealing with!"

"Yeah, a sarcastic ghost, a walking pile of bones, a crazy turtle, and a squid. We're a really terrifying bunch," agreed Dry Bones.

"You're calling me sarcastic?" Boo scoffed. "You have a couple of deadpan snarking moments yourself!"

"Regardless," interrupted Blooper. "As long as the Ukikis don't dine on me too, I'm game for barging on through…as long as I don't get caught in the ladder again."

With that, Hammer Bro. took a deep breath and ascend the first ladder, trying really hard not to made any sudden sounds or movements. Boo was next, followed by Blooper, and finally Dry Bones, who was in charge of making sure Blooper could climb up the ladder with no problems.

Eventually, Dry Bones slipped up and stepped on Blooper's tentacle, causing the squid to elicit a high-pitched scream. Hammer Bro. cringed, waiting for the Ukikis to burst out from nowhere and starting hurling their objects at the group.

But surprisingly, none emerged.

"Okay…" Hammer Bro. whispered, not wanting to take any chances. "So far, so good…we'll be out of their territory in just a few more steps-"

"Eh heh heh heh!" Boo cackled, laughing and pointing uncontrollably at Blooper. "I've never seen your eyes get so BIG!"

"Boo!" hissed the other three, but it was already too late. The Ukikis emerged out of recesses of the jungle like an angry swarm, their tiny eyes like warning symbols to the intruders.

Except, the group had already been warned once, thus playtime was over.

"Perseverance!" Hammer Bro. cried, raising a fist to the sky once more.

The Ukiki let out several screeches that merged together to form one single battle cry, a rain of rocks and barrels set to crash down upon the group. However, the team powered on through- or at least, Hammer Bro. did and the others used him as a shield.

"Ook! OOK!" cried the leading Ukiki, calling out an order. Another group of Ukikis emerged out of the forest, pushing a huge barrel along with them. Blooper just gaped.

"The rocks were definitely a stretch…BUT REALLY?"

"They're blocking the last ladder!" Boo pointed out. "That barrel's going to hit us no matter what! Well, I can just float through, but you three are outta luck!"

"Not quite," Hammer Bro. protested, standing in front of the group and pulling out a hammer. Dry Bones stared questioningly at him.

"WHERE do you keep all of those? !"

"The same place that you keep those spare bones that your kind like to hurl at everybody."

"…touche."

Once the barrel started thundering toward them, Dry Bones stepped behind Hammer Bro., Blooper cowered behind Dry Bones, and Boo simply stuck his chest out and planned to take it like a man.

"Too bad my brother's not here," sighed Hammer Bro. "He could just burn the barrel with no risk whatsoever!"

"Except possibly risk causing a forest fire," put in Dry Bones.

"Only you can prevent those," added Boo.

"Just throw the hammer!" Blooper shrieked, on the verge of fainting.

Not wasting another moment, Hammer Bro. threw his hammer, perfectly striking the barrel down the middle. He feared that nothing would happen and the barrel would crush them anyway, but to his relief, the barrel gained a perfect crack, slicing it into two halves. The halves rolled harmless past the group, which really bewildered the Ukikis.

"There's more where that came from!" Hammer Bro. yelled, waving a hammer in their direction. The Ukikis instantly screamed and scattered, at long last leaving the group alone. Hammer Bro. spun his hammer around and few times before storing it away.

Blooper cheered, Boo laughed, and Dry Bones was simply glad that he wasn't a heap of bones, but Hammer Bro. was probably the most pleased with himself.

. . .

"Gentlemen…and Blooper," Hammer Bro. breathed, taking in the beauty and magnitude of the moment. "We…have finally made it!"

The four of them looked on at the statue of DK towering over them, almost as hulking and overwhelming as the real thing. Hammer Bro. was the first to approach, knowing that the way to the treasure that they craved so badly was finally within reach…

"Well, now that we're here…" began Dry Bones, glancing around. "Where's the entrance to the treasure horde?"

"We need to find a switch, remember?" Blooper reminded him. He walked right up to the base of the statue and began to poke at it. "Maybe now we'll be able to find it!"

As he, Dry Bones, and Boo began searching once more, Hammer Bro. stopped and began to ponder to himself. As mentioned before, DK wouldn't have a very elaborate hiding place…if anything, the switch or even the treasure should be hidden in plain sight.

"Huh…"

And that's when Hammer Bro. noticed a square golden patch glittering on the ground, right at the foot of the stairs, and was pretty unnoticeable if you weren't paying attention. In fact, Dry Bones, Boo, and Blooper were looking a little too hard…

"Quick! Hurl me to the top and I'll look from there!" cried Blooper, Dry Bones and Boo getting ready to tag team and toss him up. Hammer Bro. skidded in front of them and violently shook his head.

"Hold up, guys…that's not going to be necessary," he explained, gesturing to the golden square. Dry Bones and Boo dropped Blooper on the spot and leaned in for a closer look.

"Oof…you think that's the switch?" Blooper moaned.

"Only one way to find out," Hammer Bro. replied, getting ready to press his foot on the spot to see what would happen…

…too bad something came from nowhere and knocked him away. Hammer Bro. screamed and landed in a bush, with Dry Bones, Boo, and Blooper looking on at the new arrival.

"Well, so much for him not being around," snorted Boo, hardly deterred by the fact an angry gorilla was currently staring at him condescendingly.

DK rapidly pounded his chest, letting out a primal roar that said he did _not_ enjoy these four romping through his temple and trying to take his treasure.

"I assume he was the one hindering us earlier on…" Dry Bones realized, now finding things beginning to make sense.

"Who else was it going to be? !" Boo grunted.

"I'd almost expect it to be Bowser," mumbled Blooper. "But no matter who it was, we're doomed now!"

"We came too far to be stopped now!" Hammer Bro. declared, springing out of the bush and throwing himself at the golden spot. DK easily grabbed him out of the air and hurled him right back into the bush. Dry Bones and Blooper cringed as Boo was next to try and get by, turning intangible and floating through DK. The moment he became partially solid to press the switch, DK grabbed his tail and whipped him away, landing not too far away from Hammer Bro.

Dry Bones turned to Blooper. "Are we going to be dumb enough to try something too?"

"I could use my ink-"

"Rhetorical sarcasm, Blooper."

Dry Bones pulled Blooper out of the way of DK's rampage, beginning to do the smart thing and run away. Boo was quick to fly after them, while Hammer Bro. wrestled out of the bush and faced DK one last time.

"Don't fail me now…" Hammer Bro. trailed, gripping two of his trusty weapons. "I'm throwing hammers!"

Several hammers came DK's way, but to Hammer Bro.'s horror, DK managed to snag several of them out of the air and throw them right back.

Hammer Bro. finally got the hint that it was probably time to give up.

"This isn't worth it! Forget the gold hammers!"

"There goes my seaside shanty…" sighed Blooper.

"I'm still getting my castle, so ha," snickered Boo. "Maybe not today, but I will eventually!"

"That's an entire day of my afterlife wasted," Dry Bones muttered.

The four ran all the way back to the Ukiki ladders, hardly feeling the impact of rocks hitting them from above or barrels bulldozing over them. The Ukikis stopped and scratched their heads, only able to watch in confusion as the quartet made a very sudden getaway. Thus, they went to go see DK, who was currently celebrating his victory.

"Ook ook?" one of the Ukikis asked, bringing DK down from his victory high. DK glanced down at the Ukiki and patted its head.

"Ook," DK replied, now turning to face his statue. It was hard work protecting a treasure (and maybe he should step up the security to the banana horde), so it was nice to look up at a stone monument of yourself every now and then. DK then reached down, parting a large clump of grass right next to the golden spot. Behind it was a large green pipe, and was he ever grateful that the incompetent minions hadn't discovered it, though they were pretty close.

He jumped down the pipe, which transported him to an area located behind the temple. There, coins galore were scattered along the one and only pathway, but even _that_ wasn't the true treasure.

DK waded through the many coins, reaching the other side of the path where his true crown jewel rested- a golden star, worth more than any amount of coins someone could scrape up.

DK paused, wondering if the star was really worth guarding. It didn't really have that much significance- it was just shiny and fun to look at. He thought about it more, absentmindedly grabbing a nearby banana and begin to unpeel it.

Yeah, bananas had more worth to him than the star, he supposed, taking a well-deserved chomp out of his delicacy. Especially if they were golden bananas, which he had a stash hidden away somewhere too.

He glanced back at the star one last time, just to make sure it was still there. A smirk crossed his lips, even if was filled with banana.

Regardless, it wouldn't be right to let just _anyone_ take the star, right?

Right.

* * *

**This chapter was brought to you by...sheer will power! I've seriously never been so frustrated with a chapter. :P**

**This was supposed to be the last episode of Act 1...but MP9 decided to jump into existence, and I've decided to do chapters for that as well. Next time (whenever _that_ will be) we'll be cruisin' Toad Road...then we can start Act 2 and get into some REALLY interesting chapters! ^^**


	9. Act 1, Episode 9

Mario's Party Tales

Act 1, Episode 9: Toad Road

"ROAD TRIP!"

"ROAD TRIP!"

"ROAD TRIP!"

"Hooray!"

Today was a very exciting day in the Mushroom Kingdom- well, not really. It was only an exciting day for the three souls that were singing about going on a road trip. One of them was the fair princess of the kingdom, Princess Peach, who was actually free for once and more than ready to get out of the stuffy castle and into some fresh air.

The second person was Toad, as he was the one who knew the ins and outs of the road that they were about to take a trip on.

Surprisingly, the third road tripper was a green-shelled Koopa Troopa, who had asked Peach and Toad if he could tag along as well, as he had never been on one before. Toad was a little skeptical about allowing a minion of Bowser on their road trip, but Peach sensed his innocence and allowed him to tag along. So now, Koopa was just as excited as the rest of them as they skipped their way to the red car, ready to drive the day away.

"This is gonna be great!" cheered Koopa, jumping into the car without even opening the door. Peach giggled and sat next to him in the passenger's seat.

"I'm excited as well," the princess chuckled, folding her hands neatly into her lap. "This is one part of the kingdom I've never been to before, so it's a new experience for all of us!"

"Except me," Toad stated, scuttling into the driver's seat, also known as the captain spot. "I've been here a few times myself, and I can't wait to show you everything Toad Road has to offer!"

The three of them happily gossiped about their soon-to-be road trip, completely oblivious to whatever what going on around them. They were especially unaware of the fact that someone was staring at them through hateful eyes, watching them like a hawk while being sheltered by the surrounding woods.

"Fools…they think a road trip is a fun idea? Well, they are sadly mistaken!...no, seriously, that's a terrible idea!"

He disgruntledly tapped his wand in his palm, thinking up an idea with utmost impatience.

"They don't even know what they're getting into! That road is filled with Mini Stars, and their worth is comparable to dozens of regular Stars! Not only would a person become extra powerful…but they'd be rich too! I have to get them for myself, and to please my master…but how will I do that without attracting their attention?"

The wand was tossed up and down in his hand, his gaze turning from that to the little red car and back again. Eventually, he spotted Koopa in the car and an idea instantly festered into a ridiculous plan.

"It'll be like taking Stars from a group of idiots…because it is! Hee hee…"

He emerged out of the woods just as the car began to move, but Toad quickly braked to a stop upon seeing the infamous blue-robed Magikoopa stuck out his thumb.

"Kamek?" Koopa asked, scratching his head as Kamek continued to advance toward the car.

"Yes, yes, it's me," he grumbled.

"What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?" Toad asked suspiciously, inching to get driving already. Kamek looked insulted.

"Hmph! Can't a guy pick some flowers every once in a while?" Kamek questioned. "But that's beside the point. I need a ride outta here!"

"How far are you looking to go?"

"The end of Toad Road- a friend of mine is waiting there for me. You fine folks wouldn't mind picking up a hitchhiker though, right?"

"I dunno," Toad muttered. "After all the bad things you've done in the past…"

"Oh, let him join!" Peach exclaimed. "All he wants is a ride, and he must be desperate if he's asking us."

"That's because we're the only ones with transportation! Why can't he just fly on his crazy broom?"

"Lent it to the wife," Kamek replied without missing a beat.

"What wife? !"

"Relax Toad," Koopa assured. "He won't pull any tricks as long as I'm watching!"

"Yeah…what he said," Kamek added with a smirk. Toad sighed and opened the door for Kamek to climb in.

"Fine…but playing taxi for your enemy's minion is why this kingdom has such low defenses."

Peach apparently didn't hear Toad's comment as she personally assisted Kamek into the car. He plopped himself between the princess and Koopa, and Toad finally got the car moving. Peach chatted happily about the landscape, Koopa took pictures, and Toad drove with a grumpy look on his face…

And Kamek was simply thrilled that 'this' was so easy.

. . .

Nothing too eventful happened for the group at first, with Toad simply driving down the path, the breeze blowing through Peach's hair, Koopa enjoying the thrill of being on the open road, and Kamek scheming right under all their noses. However, progress had been slower than he'd expected, and despite his practiced patience, he was bored.

"Heh heh heh…"the Koopa wizard chuckled to himself. "I suppose it's about time I take the wheel on this…"

Kamek leaned forward and tugged on Toad's shoulder as the toad was in the middle of a lengthy speech about grasslands.

"Hey, short stuff. You should let me drive- I know a quick shortcut!"

"We don't need shortcuts," Toad said confidently. "We're on a road trip, which means we're going to take the scenic route-"

"Shortcut! Shortcut! Short-" Koopa noticed Peach giving him a look. "Uh…sorry. The shortcut sounds cool though."

Toad groaned and let Kamek take the wheel, against his better judgment. "Fine, but_ just_ for the shortcut…"

Kamek grinned and gripped his hands on the wheel, stepping on the gas before Toad was even back in his seat. Koopa and Peach threw up their hands and cheered while Toad was stuck upside down in his seat. Kamek made a sharp turn around the corner, cackling to himself until they came to a peaceful pond, the water flowing from the mountain above. A few lily pads were growing in the pond, and once Toad saw the look in Kamek's eye, his heart jumped into his throat.

He buckled his seatbelt even tighter.

"Yee-haw!" Kamek yelled, driving the car right off the road and toward the pond. All three passengers screamed, but Toad was by far the loudest. Koopa screamed something that was about 'drowning just like his brother', but they miraculously landed on one of the lily pads, bounced to the next, hit the third one, and made it to the other side. Peach and Toad were now soaked, while Koopa was pulled into his shell and shaking uncontrollably.

"That was your shortcut?" Toad questioned, completely bewildered.

"I was so wrong…" Koopa chattered to himself. Kamek just glanced over the seat and flashed them all a grin.

"That was just the first part- the second part's up ahead!"

"Oh, may the stars give me strength…"

Kamek continued to be the driver, taking the crew around the bend and past a windmill.

Everywhere he turned, there were Mini Stars about. He caught them as they glided by and slipped them up his sleeves, all three passengers not even noticing what he was doing. Kamek realized that Toad was giving him an extra suspicious look, despite being skeptical this whole ride, and his sleeves were feeling a bit heavy, so he decided to cut back…but just for the moment.

However, it wasn't until Kamek started driving up the side of a hill that Toad finally caved.

"O-kay, I think you've driven enough," grunted Toad, wresting with Kamek for the driver's seat after having nearly rammed into a boulder. Toad was prepared to regain his rightful spot as captain, but he was impeded from getting there.

"Hey, can I drive?" asked Koopa as he nervously twisted his hands together. "I mean, Kamek got a turn, and I want to get the most out of this so I-"

"Sure," Toad agreed, finally dragging Kamek away. "I bet Koopa is a much better driver anyway."

Kamek grunted to himself as he was forced to the other side of Peach, folding his arms and glaring out at the landscape.

"That's all right…" he silently mused to himself. "For the most deadly foe is the one that waits for the right moment to strike…"

Thus, Kamek stayed put, shifting the Mini Stars he had snagged under his hat, leaving his sleeves open to collect new ones…

. . .

Koopa continued to drive up the grassy cliff until it emerged into a rocky mountain…with a tiny little fort sitting on top. Toad practically leaned out of the car with his mouth hanging wide open.

"When did that get there? !"

Koopa and Peach were appalled as well- Kamek seemed indifferent. Koopa braked to a stop in front of the fort, since he could sense that they all wanted to check it out.

"I dunno," Kamek said, casually jumping out of the car and strolling toward it. "Why don't we find out?"

"Because there could be something in there waiting to kill us?"

"I'd like to see myself, actually," Peach stated, beginning to follow Kamek. Koopa hopped out after her. Toad, after being alone for long enough, got out of the car and exasperatedly followed after.

"Curiosity killed the cat…and at this rate, we're cats."

He pushed open the door of the fort, only to enter a grass-filled room with blue walls. Definitely not the lava-filled death chambers they were all used to.

"What the heck…?"

"Who DARES to park their car in front of my fort?" shouted the inhabitant of the fort, flying in a cloud with an equally upset face. "…There was a parking space in the back for crying out loud!"

"Lakitu! Stop this nonsense!" Kamek shouted, pointing his wand in his direction. Lakitu stopped flying around chaotically on his cloud and folded his arms.

"Oh, well look who it is…" Lakitu grumbled, folding his arms and glaring down at the Magikoopa. "Come here to rub it in my face?"

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about," Kamek replied perplexedly. "I was just-"

"Getting a ride to the other side of the meadow!" exclaimed Koopa. Kamek nodded with surprised gratefulness and turned back to Lakitu.

"What he said," Kamek finished. "So relax and well just be on our way, subordinate."

"Easy for you to say," Lakitu complained, his cloud turning gray with fury. "You're on a road trip! Think about minions like me who don't get vacations!"

Kamek looked genuinely confused. "Um, okay, but I-"

"Boo, Hammer Bro., Blooper, Dry Bones, and a few others are pretty peeved right now," Lakitu warned the group. All four of the arrivals exchanged nervous glances. "They'll probably go after you if they see you…AS WILL I!"

Toad, Peach, Koopa, and Kamek let out a unified, "WHAT!" as Lakitu produced a Spiny from his cloud, promptly chucking it at them.

"I can drive a kart for crying out loud! A car wouldn't be much different…"

Toad, Peach, and Koopa all huddled into a group to discuss a game plan and Kamek continued to yell incoherently at Lakitu.

"Okay, Lakitu must be pretty mad that he doesn't have a cool car like us," chuckled Koopa. "So how's about we teach him a lesson for picking a fight with us?"

"How are we supposed to do that?" Peach asked, tapping her foot impatiently.

Toad glanced around the area, coming across Kamek shouting and Lakitu hurling Spinies at him. Toad also noticed a few boxes floating around, and he suddenly had an idea.

"Guys, follow me!"

Meanwhile, Lakitu was set on unleashing his rage all over Kamek, but Kamek swiftly dodged each attack like it was nothing.

"Hammer Bro., Boo, Dry Bones, Blooper…we've all worked really hard to get where we are today!" Lakitu howled, his never ending rain of Spinies ceasing to stop. "Then suddenly chumps like you, Koopa, and even a Shy Guy step up to the plate and replace us!"

"Um…Lakitu? You never had that prominent of a spot."

"That's not the point!" Lakitu cried. "I'll never be a top-notch enemy like you! Gah!"

"It's made extra funny because anyone who isn't a minion of Bowser would totally not understand the situation."

"Why you little…I outta-"

"Now, guys!" shouted Toad as he, Peach, and Koopa jumped under three blocks. Kamek and Lakitu gaped as six Bullet Bills popped out of the blocks and careened toward Lakitu, almost blasting the fool right off his cloud. The trio hit three more blocks and did the same thing, but Lakitu fought on with his Spinies, that were now walking towards the group with morbid looks on their faces. Kamek noticed this, sighed, and produced his wand.

"I really don't know what's eating you, but I assure you I've got nothing to do with it," Kamek sighed, using his magic to fling the Spinies into the wall and render them useless.

"You'll rue this day! RUE!" shouted Lakitu, shaking a crazy fist and subsequently turning red.

"He's really mad now…" Koopa quivered, his shell beginning to quake. Toad just ran up to another block and caused three Bullet Bills to pop out.

"Just keep on doing what we're doing!" Toad ordered, he and Peach continuing to bash blocks. Koopa eventually got back into the swing of things and hit another block, only to end up releasing more Spinies.

"Oh, this is pathetic…" complained Kamek, still using his magic to dispatch the Spinies. However, a devious grin crossed his face, and an even more dangerous idea crossed his mind. Kamek waved his wand, causing three Spinies to rise into the air. Then, he hurled them at Lakitu, who appropriately released a scream as his cloud spiraled into the wall.

"Whoa, that was cool!" exclaimed Koopa, jumping up and down excitedly and watching Lakitu slowly slump to the floor.

"Perhaps," Toad muttered, sliding a glance at Kamek. "There's no way that should've happened tho- OW!"

He was clonked in the back of the head with a Spiny Shell as well, falling face first onto the floor. Kamek stalked by, whistling to himself and twirling his wand between his fingers. Toad pushed his head up off the ground and griped to himself.

"Just as a warning…" Lakitu groaned, proceeding to float up off the floor. "I'm not the worst of your problems- there are minions out there that have a bigger bone to pick than me…"

"Why are you so upset?" Peach asked, scratching her head. "We haven't even done anything wrong!"

"Yeah, and what the heck did you mean about 'not being prominent'?" Kamek scoffed. "You deserved to have your cloud handed to you!"

Lakitu just glowered down at the group.

"Sorry, but it's not my problem anymore!...oh shoot, I was supposed to disappear dramatically three minutes ago. Hang on."

Lakitu spun around on his cloud, then began to shrink and wail to the heavens. Upon disappearing, a slew of Mini Stars emerged out of thin air, and Kamek's heart skipped a beat when most of them landed in the hands of Toad and Koopa.

"Hey…Mini Stars!" Koopa exclaimed, watching as they swirled around his head. "I wonder why these appeared."

"Lakitu must have had a small stash," Peach suggested, holding three stars herself. "They must've appeared when Lakitu vanished in an inexplicable manner."

"We'd better hang on to these," added Toad, storing his away. "After all, if we manage to gather enough, they'll turn into a gold Star!"

"Right," agreed Peach and Koopa, putting their Mini Stars away for safe keeping as well. Toad then motioned for them to return to the car, but Kamek lingered behind to ponder angrily to himself.

"Great, now they have Mini Stars of their own," he pondered, tapping his wand on his palm once more. "I could just take them away right now…but I do still need a ride outta here, so I'll just have to be patient for a bit longer…"

Kamek proceeded to head out the door, beginning to grin once again.

"But that doesn't mean I can't still pull strings from behind the scenes, heh heh heh…"

. . .

Back in the car, Peach was now the driver, as she pointed out to Toad that she wanted to drive for once.

By some odd strike of fate, she was worse than Kamek.

Toad's seatbelt was tightened to the maximum, Koopa was pulled into his shell so he didn't have to watch, and even Kamek was gripping his seat for dear life. Peach just leaned over the steering wheel and simpered all too eagerly, whisking around turns and going faster than she probably should have.

"You know what they say about women drivers…" Kamek trailed, wind flying at his face at an undesirable speed.

"I don't like to believe that," Toad replied, eyes squeezed shut. "I simply think Peach is a special case."

"A nut case in this case," murmured Koopa, only to quickly take it back upon receiving the murderous look Toad shot at him.

"I'm pretty sure we're all not top-notch drivers. I mean, when has anyone ever driven in a car before?"

"Um, Mario Kart?" Koopa replied with a gulp. Toad was taken aback.

"…well played. I stand corrected."

"Well, we're not going for a blistering speed kart ride!" exclaimed Kamek. "I thought this was supposed to be leisurely!"

Apparently Peach was too wrapped up in her driving to really pay attention to the banter in the backseat, because she hadn't responded at all. Toad was about to meekly suggest that he should start driving again when he caught sight of something potentially life threatening.

"The bridge ahead is out!" he wailed at the top of his lungs.

Kamek and Koopa let out a unified "What!" as they flung forward in their seats to get a better look. Sure enough, the bridge ahead was out, and Peach was propelling at it at full speed.

"Peach, BRAKE!" shouted Toad, Koopa, and Kamek.

"…huh?" Peach responded afterward, seemingly breaking out of a trance of sorts. She also saw that the bridge was out, and aptly screamed while slamming her foot on the brake. Inertia took effected and forced Toad, Koopa, and Kamek even farther up in their seats as the car slowing down just before they careened over the side of the cliff. However, the car didn't come to a complete stop.

"Why aren't we stopping? !" Koopa cried hysterically, throwing his arms into the air.

"This is why women shouldn't drive!" blurted out Kamek, only to be unexpectedly punched by Toad. "Ow! Hey! Well THAT was out of character!"

"Sorry, it had to be done. Besides, you were dissing Peach and women everywhere. I can't stand for that."

Peach cringed as they neared the edge, but of the miracle of miracles, the car stopped just before it rolled over the edge to its doom. Everyone sighed in immense relief as Kamek poked his head over Peach's shoulder.

"What were you thinking, woman?"

"I thought it was fun," Peach shrugged. "I wasn't expecting a bridge to be out!"

"You clearly don't get out much," Koopa pointed out. Peach just sighed guiltily.

"Well, not when I practically live in Bowser's Castle…"

"Either way, I'm totally thrilled that we're alive," Toad exhausted. "That was way too close."

"Yeah," snickered Kamek. "It really put us on edge, eh?"

Peach, Koopa, and Toad promptly groaned as Kamek chuckled to himself. Shaking his head, Toad looked over the gap and saw that there were a bunch of Mimi Stars on the other side.

"If only there were some way to get across…" he trailed to himself.

"Heh, at the speed Peach was going, maybe we could've flown over," suggested Koopa.

"We get the point, I was carried away…" murmured Peach.

They all sat in the car and pondered what they should do next, when Kamek noticed that the car was beginning to move once again, and the front of the car slipped over the edge.

"Um, why are we moving…?"

"You didn't put it in park, did you, Peach?"

"Oops."

"We're gonna DIE!" screamed Toad as the entire car plunged over the edge, with Peach yelling and throwing up her hands, and Koopa and Kamek huddling together for false comfort. All of them wailed on the way down, expecting themselves and the car to be smashed to smithereens…

Naturally, the car landed on all four tires and went completely unharmed. Koopa and Kamek blinked in surprise before repelling away from each other.

"Whaaaaat…?"

"Why aren't we dead?" Koopa asked, scratching his head.

"I dunno, but I think this trip has gone well so far, now that I think about it," Peach said with a pleased smile. Toad gave her a crazed look.

"We picked up a hitchhiker, drove over a pond, rode up the side of a cliff, battled against a turtle riding a cloud who was clearly out of his mind for one reason or another, and then you drive us off the very same cliff. Everything was peachy!"

"Wow," whistled Kamek. "And you were punching _me_."

"Well, it can't get worse, can it?" Koopa asked docilely, scratching the back of his head.

Kamek shook his head. "Never say that when it can be arranged."

However, Kamek didn't even need to do anything, because Peach was suddenly surrounded by small purple stars, which stole her Mini Stars away from her and ultimately flew away with them. Peach let out a gasp of disbelief as Koopa asked just what happened.

"We must've landed on a group of Mini Ztars," Toad deduced. "They have the power to take away Mini Stars, and if enough are bunched together, they'll create a Ztar."

Kamek genuinely frowned. "That…does not sit well with me."

"What do you have to worry about?" Koopa asked. "You don't have any Mini Stars!"

"Yeeeaaaaah…"

"In that case, I think Kamek should drive," Peach announced, heading into the back seat. "He has nothing to lose!"

"Oh, I couldn't possibly…" Kamek trailed off in mock modesty, scrambling for a solution. He then came up with something and snapped his fingers. "…after all, it's Toad's turn again!"

"Say whaaaa?"

"How do we even know the car can still go after plummeting off the side of a cliff?" asked Koopa. Toad muttered to himself and jumped into front, pressing his foot on the gas. Indeed, the car did go forward, along with Toad losing a lot of his Mini Stars.

Regardless, Toad was just hoping to get to the other side of Toad Road, so he continued to drive without a second thought.

. . .

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Peach."

"Are you sure we're alive?"

"Yes, Koopa."

"Can I drive?"

"NO, KAMEK."

"Ugh, well," Kamek huffed, folding his arms and scoffing. "You can't deny that I'm a better driver than Peach."

"Hey!" exclaimed the princess. Toad rolled his eyes.

"Maybe, but I trust her more."

"Even though she drove us off a cliff?"

"Yes."

"That really says something," commented Koopa.

"Either way," Peach interrupted, holding a hand to her cheek. "Perhaps maybe it is Kamek's turn to drive again."

Kamek grinned and flashed his pointed teeth as Toad released an exasperated sigh and swapped places with him. To Toad's surprise, he actually drove like a civilian.

But he still wasn't going to trust him.

"Anyway, I've been thinking," Koopa suddenly said aloud, catching the instant attention of Peach and Toad. "Lakitu was really mad back there…what do you think he meant about all that prominent talk and other minions being peeved as well?"

"I'm going to say it's because Bowser assigned Shy Guy, me, and you, Koopa, to do things, while he kept people like Hammer Bro. and Dry Bones back," Kamek explained.

"Now that you put it like that, it reminds me that Toadette was really distraught over the fact that she couldn't come on the car ride," Toad recalled.

"Aw, why not?" Peach asked with concern.

"She gets carsick."

"I see."

"Hey, wait," Toad then began again, glancing over at Koopa and Kamek simultaneously. "Did you say that Bowser assigned you to do things?"

"I'm off duty, I swear!" Koopa exclaimed, putting up his hands. "I genuinely wanted a car ride…I don't know about Kamek, though."

"I genuinely needed a ride out of this flowery paradise," Kamek said truthfully, continuing to graze down the road.

"Yeah, but how can we be sure that there's no ulterior motive up your sleeves?" Peach questioned, and Kamek blanched slightly.

"…I can say that there currently isn't anything up my sleeve."

Peach and Toad exchanged glances, and were about to ask more questions, but Koopa suddenly leaned over the side of the car and cried out, "Cannon!"

Kamek braked instantly, the three backseat passengers flying forward once more. Toad took one look at the cannon and shook his head.

"I…don't remember that being there before."

"Let's see where it goes!" cheered Peach, clasping her hands together.

"No way! What if it blasts us all the way back to the beginning?"

"Then we'll get to start the road trip over!" cheered Koopa.

"Actually," Kamek interrupted pompously. "At the trajectory its set to fire at, it would land on that island over there."

He pointed to said island, to which the other three turned to see for themselves. It was shaped just like the number nine, and if that wasn't mystical enough, it was covered in Mini Stars. Kamek took one look at this and formulated a plan instantly, just to make sure he would nab them all for himself.

"Can we go to the island? Please?" begged Koopa, specifically aimed at Toad.

"I dunno…how are we supposed to get in the cannon anyway?"

"Like this!" Kamek cried as a huge mushroom spontaneously grew underneath the car and catapulted them into the cannon.

"That makes no seeeeeense!" Toad wailed, the cannon taking aim at the island and launching them at said isle.

"Do you think we'll bust up the car this time?" Koopa questioned loudly.

"I doubt it- after all, we survived falling off a cliff!" Peach exclaimed, followed by cringing upon the car's abrupt landing. By some miracle, they had made it in one piece, but what Toad wanted to know was how they were supposed to get back to the main land.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Kamek declared, after Toad had voiced his concern.

"The last bridge we came to was broken!" Koopa pointed out.

"Figure of speech, Koopa."

"Ooh, right. Sorry."

"Anyway, how about we make our stay on this island a little more interesting?" suggested Kamek, producing a small die and tossing it in his hand. "We'll each roll, and for how many numbers you roll, you move that amount of spaces!"

"What's the catch?" Toad asked, folding his arms and raising a curious eyebrow. Kamek held up his hands.

"No catch. Just wanted to add some…dynamics to the situation."

"Can I go first then?" asked Koopa, eagerly raising his hand. Kamek smirked dangerously and tossed him the die.

"Knock yourself out."

"Yes!" Koopa cheered, throwing the die into the air and giving it a strike. However, he only rolled a four, which didn't get them very far.

"Peach will go next," Kamek decided, handing her the die. Peach smiled and tossed it up as well, striking it and claiming a three. They moved forward three spots, with Peach claiming three Mini Stars.

"Yay, I have some again!" she cried happily, putting them away once again.

Kamek then looked very thoughtful as he decided who would go next.

"I'm feeling lucky- I suppose it'll be me."

Toad sighed as Kamek rolled the die, giving it a punch and hoping for a six. Alas, he only rolled a three as well.

"Darn it!" he howled, moving the car forward three more spots before chucking the die at Toad. Toad yelped as it hit him in the head, but ten it fell perfectly into his palm. Grimacing, Toad rolled the die and gave it a punch, rolling a five. Kamek went slack jawed as Toad claimed the remainder of the Mini Stars on the island- adding up to be fifteen.

"What do you know, Kamek?" Toad chuckled smugly, claiming his pile of Mini Stars. "That _was_ fun!"

Kamek flat out scowled as a pipe appeared beneath the car and transported them back to the island.

. . .

Koopa was now driving the car again, as Toad had argued that Kamek had a long enough turn in the captain spot. Kamek begrudgingly agreed, with Koopa eagerly hopping in the driver's seat and chatting away happily.

All three of them were wondering what would happen when it was Peach's turn again.

They were cruising along rather peacefully when a distraught "WAIT!" cried out, and Koopa parked the car to search for the source of the voice.

"It better not be another hitchhiker," Toad muttered under his breath. However, when they pulled up to the source of the cry, it was only a Green Toad standing on a stump, just before Toad Road entered a slightly dense forest. All the passengers of the car stared at the Toad curiously as he quivered on the stump.

"Hello," Toad greeted, rubbing the back of his neck. "…what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm here to warn people about the dangers that this part of the road possesses…" the green Toad explained with an urgent air.

"But this is the last stretch of Toad Road!" Peach exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're getting to the other side of this forest no matter what," added Kamek abruptly.

"You don't understand…" the green Toad whispered. "Not only does the path branch in two different directions, there's also a gimmick to the roads, and if you happen to run into it, you'll end up on a small patch of land in the middle of a pond, and be forced to drive around in circles almost endlessly!"

The group was not amused.

"If that's not enough to convince you, Bowser has been spotted."

"What!" exclaimed everyone, but no one as loud as Kamek.

"I'm pretty sure he's gone by now, but the mere fact he was around at all makes me believe that he's up to something."

"Yeah, me too," agreed Toad, sneaking a look at Kamek.

"Thank goodness he's gone," Peach sighed with the most relief. "I really don't feel like spending this week at his castle..."

"You guys are going to go on ahead anyway, aren't you?" the green Toad asked dejectedly.

"Well…we can't exactly turn around and go back, so…" Kamek pointed out nonchalantly. Koopa had to agree with that and slowly began to drive again. The green Toad sighed and waved them off.

"Okay…but don't say I didn't warn you."

. . .

"All right, here's the fork in the road," Peach announced, back in the driver's seat and luckily hadn't caused any casualties. "Shall we go left or right?"

"I say right," Toad said instantly.

"Well, I believe we should go left," Kamek argued back with his arms folded.

"Must you make things difficult?"

"Oh, come now, Toad. You're a plucky guy, just trust me for once!"

"I will, just not this time! You're up to something and I refuse to allow you to get away with it!"

"How do you know I'm not just using reverse psychology on you and saying to go left to make you firmly stick to the right path when the right back could be catastrophic-"

"Oh, my brain!" Koopa wailed, grabbing his temples. "It might not be blown, but I feel a major headache coming on!"

"…I think I'll go left then," Peach said quietly, turning to the left. Toad was flabbergasted.

"Peach!"

"What? What's the worse than can-shoot."

Peach drove straight into a ton of Mini Ztars, losing all the Mini Stars she had gathered on Nine Island. Crying out in anguish, Peach ended up stopping the car, and ending up on a mushroom sitting in the middle of the river.

"Well, considering what happened the last time we landed on a mushroom, I'd say we're about to be-"

The mushroom bounced the car and its passengers into the air, cuing well-times shouts of surprise.

"LAUNCHED!" finished Koopa, after they had landed on the small island in the middle of the river. Peach, Toad, and Kamek pulled themselves together and glanced around.

"Great, now we're never going to get out of here," sighed Kamek, resting his hand on his cheek and grunting. Peach just looked completely abysmal.

"…please…do the world a favor and keep me away from moving vehicles…"

"That time, our lives weren't threatened, so I think we can let it slide, Princess," Toad assured. "Just…what are we going to do?"

"Beats me," Kamek replied, using his magic to lure all of the Mini Stars on the small island into his possession. "You're usually the one to figure things out."

"Oh, you cause a problem and I'm supposed to clean it up. Nice."

"How is this my fault?"

"You were the one who said to go left!"

"This would've happened no matter which way we went!"

"Um, guys," Koopa interrupted, twirling his fingers around. "If there was a way to even get here, I'm quite confident that there's a way to get back."

"Ah, yes, and what way would that be?" inquired Kamek sarcastically.

"Well, Green Toad was talking about gimmicks, whatever that means," Peach pointed out. "Maybe there's another one on this island!"

"And how are we going to find it?" Kamek asked. "Drive around in circles until something happens?"

**Three Seconds Later-**

"Tell my mother I love heeeeer!" wailed Koopa, gripping his seatbelt so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"What mother? !" Toad shouted in reply, hardly able to move his face.

Peach was speeding circled around on the island in hopes that something would happen. However, after the thirty-seventh lap around, it turned out that her plan just wasn't working.

"Stop, stop, stop, STOP!" Kamek wailed, finally succeeding in getting Peach to put on the brakes. "What possessed you to think that I wasn't kidding or how that could've been a good idea?"

"I didn't see any of you doing anything but complaining!" Peach huffed, folding her arms and glancing away.

"It's the Car Craze Mania!" Koopa wept. "It's tearing us apart!"

"Everyone, calm down," Toad ordered, kicking Peach out of the driver's spot. "We will get out of here, we will finish the road trip, and we will-"

"Take over the world!" blared Kamek, raising his arms and cackling to the sky.

Peach, Toad, and Koopa: ?

Kamek quickly coughed and pulled himself together. "Er…that's what I would _usually_ say if I wasn't generously receiving a ride from such nice people. Yup."

Toad just blinked and shook his head. "Okay."

He then slowly circled the island, thus managing to activate the 'gimmick' with much more success than Peach had. A pipe took them back to the mainland, and Toad floored the gas and took off for the end of Toad Road.

. . .

"I think you should let me drive again."

"Kamek, so help me I will-"

"At ease, Toad," Peach soothed, patting the head of the Mushroom Retainer. "We're almost at the exit gate! Then we can drop Kamek off, and we can finish our road trip as we go home."

"You mean we're nearing the end already?" Kamek asked, sounding somewhat alarmed. Toad nodded.

"Yes. You said you wanted to be taken to the other side of Toad Road, no?"

"Well, yes, but…" Kamek glanced away and scowled to himself- he still hadn't stolen away the group's Mini Stars, and they were nearing the end of the road…

Woo. Really bad pun there, Kamek.

Eventually, Toad drove under the gate that signaled the end of the forest and the end of Toad Road. The car eventually came to a stop, with Peach and Koopa cheering and Kamek appearing incredibly nervous. Toad glanced over his shoulder and gave Kamek a long look, and just as Kamek started to exit the vehicle, a loud rumbling emerged from between the trees, and Kamek was right back to sitting in his seat.

"I…don't want to find out what that was."

"It sounded big!" Koopa exclaimed, poking his head over the edge of the car to see if the cause of the rumbling was visible. He yelped and ducked down as the rumbling continued, along with the ground shaking and a furious rustling in the trees. Peach was about to suggest that Toad should go out and check, but he was under the seat and quaking like a leaf.

"Well," she huffed, climbing out of the car and walking toward the trees. "I might as well go find out."

"Peach, no!" waited Toad, springing out of the car after her. "Any time you go off somewhere alone, you're kidnapped!"

Peach glanced back and made a face.

"I get kidnapped whether I'm standing in an open field or in a room made out of diamond and guarded by every able body in the kingdom."

"…so? ! The odds increase when you're alone!"

"Take me with you!" Koopa cried, jumping out of the car as well. "I'm not being left behind to be victimized!"

"And I'm not staying because I still need to swipe your Stars," Kamek murmured under his breath, climbing out and trudging after the trio. However, as soon as he caught up with the others, the rumbling returned, and the four froze in their tracks.

Then, a huge Wiggler stomped out of the forest and trampled over the car. Toad released a legit screamed and fell to his knees, grabbing his head in agony.

"MY CAAAAAR!"

"Wow, really glad I came along too," Kamek said with a whistled. Koopa trotted over to Toad and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm sure insurance will cover it."

"I don't have Wiggler damage coverage!" Toad sobbed dramatically. Koopa gulped and shuffled away.

"Too bad it wasn't a rental," sighed Peach.

"Everyone has a rental, I said…" Toad blubbered to himself. "It'll be great to have my own car, I said…"

Koopa glanced up at Peach. "I don't think we're helping."

"Please tell me I'm not the only one that didn't forget about Wiggler," Kamek interjected, folding his arms just as the large yellow caterpillar stormed up behind him and bucked him into the air. Kamek yelped crazily as he returned to the ground with a thud, Toad pulling himself together and turning to face Wiggler. Peach and Koopa gulped and took a few steps back.

"Well, aside from the Kamek thing, he hasn't attacked yet," Koopa pointed out.

"Oh yes, it's not like he didn't attack my car or anything," Toad huffed, jumping at the caterpillar. "FOR THE CAAAAR!"

Peach and Koopa just gaped as Toad performed a ground pound on Wiggler, in particular on a red spot that appeared to do more damage than a ground pound usually would. Wiggler yelled out in pain, kicking Toad away and continuing to trot around.

"Ignore the perky flower on its head and the smile on its face! This thing is evil!" Toad cried.

"Well yeah," huffed Kamek. "It's a minion of Bowser!"

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" exclaimed the Wiggler. Peach was taken aback.

"You can talk?"

"That's what I said when I first saw a human, so the feeling is understandable."

Peach just gaped as Koopa asked, "What're you doing here, Wiggler?"

"Oh, Bowser dropped me off!" Wiggler replied cheerily. "Apparently there were some dude in Toad Road gathering Mini Stars, and I'm supposed to take them away or something…you don't happen to know where such people are, do you?"

"Nope!" Koopa replied. "We're just on a road trip!"

"Oh, cool! I wish I could go on a road trip!"

"So do a lot of minions," murmured Kamek.

"Enough casual chit chat," Toad stated, marching up to Wiggler. "You're going to have to pay for my car, you hear?"

Wiggler looked confused.

"Car? What car?"

"It was that pile of smooshed red metal over there," Peach explained, pointing to it. "You stepped on it…many times…and now it's unrecognizable."

"It was so young…" Toad trailed, fighting off the urge to burst into tears. Wiggler bent down and squinted at the banged up car.

"Hmm…I suppose it could've been a car at one point. But I'm not paying for it. I'm on minimum wage and I've got Wigglets to feed."

Toad was completely staggered. "N-No…you have to pay it! It's brand new, and we have no way home besides walking!"

Wiggler was unimpressed. "So? I walk all the time!"

"That's not the point!" Toad exasperated. "I'm not going to stand here and take this from a worm!"

Everything seemed to slow down as Wiggler's pupils shrunk while he stared down at Toad. "Oh no you didn't! Worm? Worm? ! _WORM? !"_

Toad gulped and regretted his actions as every segment on Wiggler turned an angry red and Piranha Plants emerged out of the ground.

"You have awakened a sleeping beast, my friend! CHAAAAARGE!"

Toad, Peach, Koopa, and Kamek all jumped out of the way as Wiggler uncontrollably plowed forward, growling and yelling unsightly things- a stark contrast from how he had been mere moments ago.

"Way to go, Toad," commented Kamek, standing up and brushing off his blue robe. "You can't blame me for this one."

"I can always get you a new car, Toad," Peach offered, assisting Toad up off the ground.

"Can someone help me? !" Koopa wailed, changing the subject instantly. The other three turned to witness Koopa in the jaws of a Piranha Plant. "I don't feel like being turned into a hard shelled snack!"

Toad leapt over instantly and bounced on the plant's head, effectively defeating it and freeing Koopa from its mandibles. Koopa panted and thanked Toad.

"How are we supposed to stop Wiggler?" Peach asked, dodging once again as Wiggler thundered by.

"The same way I attacked him before," Toad suggested, jumping up when Wiggler ran by and performing a ground pound. Wiggler cried out, bouncing Toad away just as Koopa started ground pounding as well. Peach joined in too, and soon the three of them were wailing on Wiggler like no one's business. They hardly paid attention to the Piranha Plants- they were too focused on knocking Wiggler back to his senses.

"Come on! A few more hits should do the trick!" Toad cried in mid jump.

"I certainly hope so," stated Peach, attacking the red weak spot.

"Ow, knock that off!" shouted Wiggler, still whipped up in a rage. "I'm sensitive!"

"Sense this!" cheered Koopa, dealing the last blow needed to put Wiggler in his place. All the Piranha Plants scattered around quickly retreated back underground upon hearing the scream that Wiggler let out. He returned back to his friendly yellow color as he flopped upside down, helplessly flailing his legs about in defeat.

"Ooh, Bowser's gonna hear about this one!" Wiggler complained. "The others were right…I should've listened…"

"Others…?" was all Koopa could ask before Wiggler vanished in a puff of smoke and left his share of Mini Stars behind.

"Yeah, return from the dirt you slithered out from!" cried Peach, raising a triumphant fist into the air.

"Man, can _any_ of us stay in character today?" Toad asked, scratching his head. "Next thing you know, Kamek's gonna be kissing babies, hugging puppies, and donating to charity."

"…where'd he go anyway?" Koopa realized, and the three of them looked around frantically. However, their Mini Stars suddenly flew out of their pockets and began to congregate, followed by a very distinctive-

"Heh heh heh…!"

The trio turned in horror to witness Kamek on a floating blue platform, using his magic to pull the Mini Stars together until they converted into a single large golden Star, which Kamek quickly seized and slipped up his sleeve.

"Heh heh heh! One down, four to go!" he cackled, overwhelmed at his unexpected success. Kamek glanced down at the group and gave them an arrogant wave. "Well, hello there guys! Didn't see ya there!"

"Kamek! I knew you were up to no good!" Toad exclaimed. "We should have never let you in my car, which no longer exists!"

'I know- who knew a Wiggler could cause so much collateral damage?" Koopa asked. "He wasn't even angry yet!"

"Either way, I do thank you for the carpooling- I really didn't have any other way out of Toad Road," Kamek admitted truthfully.

"Whatever you plan on doing, I hope you know that we'll make sure that it comes to an end before it even begins!" Peach protested. Kamek just snickered.

"Silly Peach, it has already begun…and I'd love to linger a few moment longer to extend this absolutely delightful chat, but I have to report back to Bowser with this Star! Until our paths cross again!"

Kamek left on the floating platform that he obtained from seemingly nowhere, leaving Toad, Peach, and Koopa in the woods outside of Toad Road without any transportation. Toad was the most determined to get back at Kamek, and even silently cursed himself for not doing anything sooner while Koopa and Peach were a little more lighthearted about it…

"Heh, looks like we've really hit the road with that outing!" chuckled Koopa. "And as for Toad, at least he managed to drive his car once…until the day of wreckoning."

"Yes, and the tires can be fixed for a flat rate," simpered Peach, and the duo shared a high five. Toad shook his head and turned to the duo, holding up one last Mini Star that he'd managed to salvage from Kamek's magic assault.

"You guys, this could potentially be serious," Toad pointed out, gazing into the sky where Kamek had disappeared. "This could possibly be the start of something really bad…if Bowser has Kamek out hunting for Mini Stars, and even some of the other minions are upset, then something is definitely wrong."

After hearing those words, Peach and Koopa ceased their puns and fell silent…for they feared he was right.

* * *

**The "thing" of the MP9 chapters- they have continuity! So, every ninth episode will have an intertwined story...because everyone in a car just wasn't gonna cut it. **

**Anywho, after a little over two years of this story, Act 1 is finally complete! Let's pray I can pick up the pace in the future. :P**


	10. Act 2, Episode 1

Mario's Party Tales

Act 2, Episode 1: Peach's Birthday Cake

"Now, Mario," Peach had said, exiting the kitchen with a large bundle in her arms. "I'm heading into Toad Town today, so I need you to stay here and guard this."

Peach placed the bundle on a table in her rather large dining room, which featured a white table cloth with a light pink and baby blue plaid design. Mario watched with curiosity as Peach pulled the ribbon on the bundle, causing its top and four sides to fall open and reveal a small cake within.

"Ooh…a cake!" Mario said with hunger in his eyes. The cake itself was smothered in pink frosting, laced with icing, and sprinkled with pastel candies. A pink "Happy Birthday" was evident in the very center of the cake, and on the edges sat figurines of Luigi, Wario, DK, Yoshi, and Mario himself. Finishing it off was a thin pale yellow ribbon that wrapped around the base of the cake, featuring the words, "Peach Made".

"Wow, Peach, this just might be some of your best work!" Mario exclaimed, trying hard not to scoop off some of the frosting. "However…why'd you make _yourself_ a birthday cake?"

Peach put on a sly smile. "Can anyone make a better cake than me?"

"Hm. It is hard to find somebody."

"Also, it's not quite finished yet," Peach explained, beginning to place a few small plates and silverware around the cake. "That's why I'm heading into Toad Town- Tayce T. has a few things I need to borrow, I need to run to the store, Parakarry has some birthday cards for me…and by the urgent tone he had on the phone, it sounded like I've got a lot."

"Well, why don't I run the errands while you finish the cake?" Mario asked. Peach sighed and strapped on her coat.

"While that might be easier, my presence was requested at Tayce T.'s…and the Post Office. I'd better hurry down there…"

"Wait, then why am I here?"

"You're going to make sure nothing happens to my cake," Peach said with a new serious tone that made Mario cringe slightly. "I slaved all day to make that cake, and I want it to stay just like that until I come back. Besides that, you can pretty do whatever you feel like, as long as my cake is under tight security."

"What? What makes you think I'd do anything else?" stuttered Mario, glancing around in a nervous manner.

"I have a hunch," Peach replied airily, proceeding to glide out the door. She halted in the doorway and gave Mario a wink. "I want it to be the best it can be, okay?"

Mario gave her a wide grin as she disappeared out the door.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

**Seven minutes later…**

Mario was leaning against the wall with his hat over his eyes as Luigi stood innocently next to him, with Yoshi flutter jumping along and draping streamers to the walls, Donkey Kong hurling a pile of presents into the corner, and Wario tying balloons everywhere and humming polka music. Luigi blinked at the display and turned to Mario.

"So how'd you manage to get Peach out of her own castle?"

"She had errands to run," Mario murmured. "But I'm pretty sure she knew I was gonna throw her a party."

"Ooh, I hope she didn't get her hands on my diary…I wrote about the party in extensive detail!"

Mario pulled up his hat and glanced at Luigi with a smirk. "You have a diary?"

"What? ! Diary? I-I meant my manly journal! Just a book to record things that happen! It's not like I put my personal feelings in there or anything…feelings are for the weak!"

"Yeah, okay."

"Argh, this place is as good as it's gonna get," grumbled Wario, fighting with a balloon that was statically sticking to his hat. "Can we eat the cake now?"

"Hey, we have to make this party the best that it can be," Mario said with confidence. "Besides, the one thing I'm supposed to do is make sure nothing bad happens to that cake, and sorry Wario, but you count as a bad thing."

"I didn't take time out of my day to be insulted like this," Wario replied in a huff.

"Yeah," added Yoshi, skipping by with streamers wrapped around his arms. "He only came to fill his already huge belly!"

"I'm not fat! It's belly muscle!"

"Ook? !" DK exclaimed, turning away from his present pyramid.

"Yes DK, I'm pretty sure that's not body muscle as well," murmured Mario with a sigh. Wario looked highly offended and turned away while Yoshi ended up getting wrapped in the streamers.

"At least I'm not high strung!" Yoshi called from his cocoon on the floor. "You know, like the streamers on the ceiling? Hee hee!"

"Ooh…" groaned Luigi, pulling up a chair at the long dining room table. "Anyway, ignoring that bad pun, when is Peach supposed to get back?"

"Well, by the time she gets her things from Tayce T., goes to the store, and sorts through all her birthday cards…I'd say two hours. Three tops, but no less than one," Mario calculated.

"I can't wait that long for cake!" exclaimed Wario, followed by a loud rumbling emitting from his stomach. He thundered over to the table where Peach had left said cake, but right before he could get his hands on it, Mario skid in front of the table and deflected Wario's assault.

"We're not going to touch the cake!" he exasperated, shaking his head.

"Oh, I bet it's strawberry cake…" Yoshi said, licking his lips.

"I can't wait to have a slice, and eat it with those little forks that have Peach's crown on the end, and we can have little cups of tea with it!" exclaimed Luigi. Wario, Yoshi, and DK stopped what they were doing to gape at Luigi.

"I think I let you have too many tea parties when you were younger," Mario coughed, and Luigi glared back.

"What? Tea goes excellent with cake! And you can't say that specially designed forks aren't a cool idea!"

"I really don't care what I eat it with, I just really want it…" Wario huffed, returning his gaze to the birthday delicacy. Mario just sighed and turned his back to Wario, facing the cake himself. It certainly did look delicious, but he valued keeping his promise more than taking a slice.

Although, one thing was bugging him, and that was the figurines.

"I know she said the cake wasn't finished, but it couldn't have been that hard to place her own figurine on the cake," Mario stated, picking up a Peach figurine and staring down at the cake. "Maybe she'll appreciate it if I just-"

"YOSHI!" Yoshi suddenly cried, ending up stepping on a tube of icing while he was ironically licking a spoon of frosting. The icing proceeded to land on Wario, taking him by such surprise that he tossed a fistful of wafer sticks into the air, all of them raining down on DK, who was sampling a handful of strawberries. DK yelped out in anguish and threw the strawberries, effectively pelting Luigi who was about to eat a candy bar with the words "Happy Birthday" on it. Luigi fell backwards out of his chair, tossing the candy bar into the air where it hit Mario in the back of the head, and Mario was knocked face first into the cake.

The figurine of Peach spiraled into the air and landed in the small bowl of pastel colored candies.

Luigi, Wario, Yoshi, and DK just gaped as Mario pulled his face out from the cake, and although he was now donning a very delicious mask, nothing could hide the look of horror on his face.

"…I turn my back for one second and suddenly everyone's eating something? !" he cried out, turning and glowering at the group.

"DK took all the strawberries, so I grabbed a scoop of frosting!" Yoshi said defensively. DK glanced around before rapidly pounding his chest in protest. Wario glared at DK and shook a fist.

"What do you mean 'I knocked the tube of frosting onto the ground when I grabbed the wafer sticks?' ! That was-a Luigi, you crazy ape!"

"I didn't even get up from the table! I just found the candy bar, and my stomach grumbled, and I was hungry…you can't blame me for this!"

"Well your candy bar was what clonked Mario in the head!" exclaimed Yoshi.

"It's not Wimpy's fault that Mario could be knocked over by a three-ounce bar of chocolate," snickered Wario.

"I'm not wimpy! And if you were more careful and watched what you were doing, the icing would have never fallen on the floor, and Yoshi couldn't have stepped on it," Luigi protested.

DK stepped in and pushed everyone apart, ceasing the conflict. Mario, meanwhile, was on the verge of being hysterical.

"We've got bigger problems!" Mario yelped, wiping the cake from his eyes. "We just destroyed Peach's birthday cake…and she's totally-a gonna be mad at me!"

"Well duh," scoffed Wario. "What do you mean 'we'? Your potato nose was the one that smashed into the cake, not ours. If you had just let us eat it, none of this would have happened."

"He's got a point," Yoshi admitted, snapping his tongue at Mario's face and lapping off some cake. "Hey, it IS strawberry cake!"

"Ook ook?" DK asked, scratching his head. Wario nodded with a devious grin.

"Hey, you're right! This _is_ the first time Mario's royally screwed up! I bet he doesn't know how to handle it!"

"What're you talking about?" Mario huffed, still looking rather ridiculous with a frosted mustache. "I mess up all the time-"

"No you don't," sighed Luigi. "That's me."

"What? No, I've made a few mistakes, like…like…well, I put my red shirt in with my white socks once."

Luigi face palmed as Yoshi burst out laughing. Wario just strolled over to Mario slung an arm over his shoulder.

"Face it, Mr. Perfection. This just might be the first time in your life where your heroic status and sickly sweet goody-two shoes act isn't going to save you. Yikes, you have to…gasp…face the consequences! Peach will despise you for the rest of your life because her birthday wasn't the best it could be!"

DK pushed Wario out of the way as Yoshi tried to comfort Mario.

"You know it's not going to be as bad as he's making it seem. Peach will definitely forgive you if you just explain it to her!"

"Look on the Brightside, Mario," Luigi input meekly as Wario and DK proceeded to wrestle in the background. "At least it can't get any worse!"

As Mario took off his cap and shook off cake bits, all while staring abysmally at what remained of the birthday cake, Toad burst through the kitchen doors looking panicked.

"Mario! MARIO!"

"AAHHH!" Mario yelled, grabbing the platter and tossing it out the window like a Frisbee. He then slapped his cap back on and grinned sheepishly at Toad. "Er…hi Toad! What's up?"

"Where's the princess? !" he asked frantically, prepared to start hyperventilating at any moment.

"She went into town. Why?" Luigi asked, rising from the table. Toad started flailing his arms.

"Well, it's good that she's not around while Bowser is!"

The group of five let out a "Hah?" as Bowser stomped in, looking furious and ferocious as ever. Toad yelped and scurried behind Mario as the rest struck battle stances…though Luigi was quaking as well.

"Greetings, lesser! I'm here to give Peach a proper party…at MY castle! Gra ha ha ha ha!" he boomed, glancing around. However, he caught sight of Mario and went hysterical. "Hey! Mario! It looks like you really got caked! You should stay like that- it's a good look for you!"

"Not funny, Bowser," Mario sighed, stalking off to go find a towel to completely remove the cake from his face. Once Bowser finally stopped chortling, he became gravely serious.

"Okay, enough hysterics. Peach. Hand her over. Now."

"We can't hand over something we don't have," Wario stated boldly. Bowser took a few moments to register this before being taken aback.

"What? You mean she's not here? ! Where is she? !"

"Because we're_ really_ going to tell you," huffed Yoshi. Bowser considered this for a moment, then shrugged and took a seat at the table. Everyone just gaped as he casually took out a plate of flan, a small spoon, and scooped a bite out of it.

"That's all right. She has to come back eventually, right?" Bowser asked, sticking the spoonful of dessert in his mouth. "Anybody want any?"

Half of the group went slack jawed as they shook their head. Luigi stepped forward and questioned, "You wouldn't happen to have any cake, would you?"

"Cake?" Bowser echoed, setting his dessert down. "Why do you need cake?"

"Because Mario completely obliterated Peach's birthday cake and she's gonna explode when she comes back," Yoshi explained nonchalantly. Mario was mortified.

"Yoshi!"

"What? He asked!"

"Gra ha ha ha! That's too rich!" Bowser cackled, Mario pulling his cap back over his face. "You know what, Mario? I'll cut you some slack and not kidnap Peach today…in exchange for the priceless look on your face when she yells at you!"

Mario exasperated as Bowser continued to chuckle, with Wario eventually joining in and DK hunting for more strawberries.

"Regardless, I just might be able to help you!" Bowser exclaimed, reaching into his shell. "Hey, mush face! Toss over that icing tube on the floor!"

"My name is TOAD!" Toad exclaimed, picking up the tube and hurling it in Bowser's direction. It smacked Bowser in the face, but the Koopa King just plucked it off his nose and turned his back to the crowd. He started fidgeting with something, and the others just looked on as he murmured to himself.

"Yes, Mario, as a matter of fact, I can help you…for a minimum of twenty coins!"

"Twenty coins for what?" scoffed Mario, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I think you should make him up cough up thirty, considering how high the stakes are," chortled Wario.

"You're not helping," sighed Luigi and Yoshi as DK had his face buried in an extra bowl of strawberries. Bowser then whirled around and produced his latest creation.

"Behold! The Bowser Cake! This is the solution to your problem where everyone wins, and I'm sure Peach won't even know the difference!"

"Bowser, that is a spiky Koopa shell with icing lathered on it and a candle sticking out of it," Toad deadpanned.

"I bet it's not even edible!" exclaimed Yoshi. "How cheap!"

"Erm…why was there a Koopa shell in your shell?" Luigi asked, lifting his hat to scratch his head. Bowser blanched before tossing the shell away.

"For emergencies like this, duh!"

"Anyway," Toad stated, turning to Mario. "What are we gonna do? Peach will be back soon, and I don't think she'll be very happy to discover that she'll need to bake another cake."

Mario became utterly decomposed as Luigi suggested, "Why don't we just make another cake?"

"Because she'll be able to see and taste the difference," Wario huffed. "She might be crazy sweet, but she's not completely stupid."

"Well, Luigi might be right- we'll just have to redo Peach's birthday cake!" Mario exclaimed, raising a triumphant fist. "To the kitchen!"

"Shame that none of us know how to cook…" trailed Wario, grabbing DK and dragging him into the kitchen as well.

"Hey, I dabble!" Luigi protested, but his voice went unheard.

"Wait, are we really going to leave Bowser in here all alone?" Toad asked, halting everyone at the door. Bowser, still at the table, just took another bite out of his dessert.

"Yeah, don't leave me behind! I might pop all the balloons, or steal all the gifts, or burn the place down!"

Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario, and DK exchanged glances before Bowser was allowed to tag along.

. . .

"So…this is her kitchen?"

"It's where the magic happens!"

Mario spread his arms wide in the spledor of Peach's kitchen, with everyone else flooding in on the spot. Bowser casually sashayed in and nudged Mario.

"I'm so looking forward to how this one fails!"

Mario glowered back and began shouting out orders.

"Okay! Toad, get out Peach's favorite cookbook! Luigi, pick out a good recipe! DK, fetch a bowl, a spoon, and other…cooking utensils. Yoshi, ingredients! And Wario, guard Bowser!"

"Why do I have to guard Bowser?" Wario complained. "I was looking forward to licking the spoon!"

"That's why, plus we need someone with your 'belly muscle' to stand a chance against Bowser if he tries anything tricky."

"Then why not make the monkey do it?" Wario questioned, said ape poking his head out of a cupboard.

"Because he can climb up to high cabinets and things like that…and last time I checked,_ I'm_ even taller than you, Wario."

"WARGH! Point taken! Wario can take a hint!" hollowed the yellow plumber, marching over to where Bowser had taken residence in a corner. Mario sighed afterwards and turned back to his crew.

Toad had fished out Peach's favorite cookbook, handing it to Luigi, who skimmed through it looking for a suitable dish. He contently flipped through the pages, judging the food just by the colorful pictures plastered on each page.

"Too hard…too gross…too time consuming…too orange…aha!" Luigi exclaimed, flipping the book around so everyone could see. The group leaned in and was decently surprised to see the contents.

"Surprise strawberry cake, huh?" Mario questioned, nodding. "That sounds suitable."

"Yeah, Peach will be surprised all right," snickered Wario from the corner. Mario donned a blank expression before snapping back to attention.

"All right, DK, put the bowl on the table! Yoshi, grab the flour, salt, and sugar! Toad, fetch the butter, eggs, cream, and milk!"

Toad scrambled to the fridge while Yoshi attempted to jump up to the cupboard where his ingredients were being stored. Once DK put the bowl and spoon on the table, he galloped over, swung onto the cabinets, threw open the doors, and handed down the things Yoshi needed. Yoshi smiled back and carried the objects to the table.

"Thanks, DK!"

"Ook! Ook!"

Toad returned from the bridge as well, and they put the butter, cream, milk, four, salt, and sugar onto the table. Luigi then strolled over and let out a dignified cough while adjusting his collar. Toad and Yoshi exchanged a look as Luigi began grabbing the ingredients and tossing them into the bowl.

"Let a professional handle this…"

"Because you cook so often," scoffed Wario.

"Hey, all that time he spends at home has enabled him to whip up a mean parfait recipe," Yoshi pointed out.

Mario just watched as Luigi tossed in a few handfuls of sugar, cracked three eggs, stirred it up, dumped in some flour and a pad of butter, and stirred it up once more. Mario then jogged over with a cake pan, and Luigi proceeded to pour the batter into it.

"Toad, turn the oven on," Luigi requested, and Toad dashed over to take care of it. "Now, this needs to bake for exactly thirty minutes…"

"I thought it was only thirty seconds?" Mario asked with a bewildered look. Luigi just took the pan from Mario and slipped it into the oven, then turning on the timer.

"We're on real time now, Bro. We're not in an RPG this time."

Thirty minutes later-

Mario and Bowser were in a fierce card game of war, Wario was taking a nap after raiding nearly everything in the fridge, DK was finishing off the bowl of strawberries, Yoshi was sniffing around for some other fruit, and Luigi was removing the cake from the oven. Once it was cooled, Mario defeated Bowser in the card game and scrambled over to Luigi, wondering what needed to be done next.

"Next we'll have to cream the cake, heh heh, so to speak…"

"All right then!" Mario exclaimed, grabbing the bottle of cream and dumping it onto the cake. Toad walked over with another spoon and spread it evenly on the cake as Luigi skimmed the rest of the recipe.

"Ah…to finish it off, we'll just need strawberries. Good thing Peach keeps a lot of them on hand."

"Yeah," chuckled Yoshi heading to the fridge. Wario stirred from his nap and shook his head.

"Sorry, there're no strawberries in there. I checked. Twice."

"That's weird," stated Toad. "There was just a huge bowl of strawberries a few minute ago…"

Everyone then froze and turned to DK, who was lying on the floor with the strawberry bowl resting empty on his face. Luigi gasped in horror as Mario flat out collapsed to the floor.

"No! DK! You've doomed us all!"

"Yeah, it's just a 'Surprise Cake' without the strawberries," Luigi coughed as Yoshi scooped some of the cream off with his finger. As Mario continued to drone in anguish, Bowser arose from the corner…until Wario promptly punched him back down to the ground.

"Ow! What was that for? !" complained the Koopa King, pushing himself up off the ground. Wario just folded his muscular arms and scoffed.

"Hey, I was stuck with the job of babysitting you, and that's what I'm going to do!"

"I was just going to offer a helpful suggestion! After all, Mario's completely falling apart over there, and I don't want someone so pathetic to be my adversary!"

"You're kidding," scoffed Toad. "The last time you 'helped', you tried to pass off a frosted shell as cake! Complete bogus!"

Mario looked absolutely miserable as Bowser stomped over. "Yes, well, unless you have any other ideas to receive instant strawberries, it looks like I'm your last hope!"

Mario meekly glanced up as Bowser produced three seeds in the palm of his hand, and Mario suddenly felt all too tempted. The other knew this wouldn't end well and worriedly looked on.

Except for Wario- he thought it was bound to be funny.

"These are three of my special 'Strawberry Seeds'- they grow 'strawberries' instantaneously, so they should take care of your little cake conundrum…for thirty coins."

Mario's eyes widened as Luigi, DK, and Yoshi began to panic.

"Ook ook! Ook ook!"

"DK's right- it's not worth it, Mario!" Yoshi exclaimed, grabbing the sides of his head. "It's probably a trick, just like before!"

"Yeah, Bro! I mean, he even used air quotes!" cried Luigi.

"I say do it- I've got a camera ready for when this goes horribly wrong!" chuckled Wario, whipping out said camera.

Mario was really conflicted before turning back to Bowser. "Does the price have to be thirty coins?"

"Mario!" Luigi and Yoshi exasperated.

"It's your choice, Mario," Bowser said with a defiant air, taunting his arch enemy with the only solution to his problem. "You can either listen to your friends and save you meaningless money-"

"-And stop you from doing something stupid!" chimed Luigi, Yoshi, and Toad.

"-Or you can buy the seeds, finish the cake, and save yourself from losing the one thing you care about most! Gra ha ha ha!"

"On second thought, don't buy the seeds," Wario stated, shocking just about everyone in the room. "I still want to see Peach completely tear you a new one for messing up her cake!"

Mario glowered as Bowser started mocking Peach in a very falsetto voice.

"Oh, Mario! I asked you do one thing and you've let me down, and on my birthday no less! I am soooo disappointed! I'd be better off living with _Bowser_, where we would fall in _love_ and he'd make me cake no matter _what_ day, and I'd be able to _trust him_-"

Bowser found himself assailed in the face with thirty coins, followed by him hurling the seeds in Mario's direction before chuckling and scooping up said coins. Mario caught the seeds in a single hand, followed by solemnly turning his gaze toward the second birthday cake.

He rose from the floor and started walking over.

"Mario, don't put them on the cake," Toad pleaded in a whisper, shaking his head.

"How can you really believe they'll grow instant strawberries?" Yoshi questioned.

"Because…" Mario trailed, stopping just above the cake and holding his hand with the seeds over it. "They're my last hope…the last thing I want to do is let down Peach on her birthday. She gave me one simple thing to do and I messed it up, so I'll do what it takes to correct my mistake. Everything has to be the best it can be."

"I'm pretty sure she won't notice that the strawberries are missing," Luigi added with a nervous chuckle, but Mario had already dropped the seeds onto the cake. DK let out a stunned "OOOK!" as Wario just shook his head.

"There's nothing he won't do for that skirt- bottomless pits, lava filled castles, exploring the edges of the universe, and now putting miscellaneous seeds on a birthday cake. You are quite the catch, Mario."

Mario hardly heard him- he was much too transfixed on the cake. Eventually, all the others gathered around the cake too, waiting for something to happen. All of them leaned in, just in time to see the seeds sink beneath the cream lathered on top of the cake.

"Is this the part where they grow…?" Luigi asked meekly, all of them still mesmerized.

Then, the cake started to tremble, and all of them were really hoping for strawberries.

Instead, three hungry Piranha Plants emerged out of the cake, sending chucks of cream-covered bake goods in all directions as they lurched forward and snapped at the group. The gang screamed in unison and jumped back as one, although one of the Piranha Plants managed to grab Toad before he managed to get too far away though.

"ARGH, no! NO!"

During all this, Bowser stood up from the floor, chuckling lowly and taking way too much pleasure in the current turn of events.

"Gra ha ha ha! We might not be battling to the death, but I'm just happy that I finally manage to trump you once! YES!"

He continued chortling until he caught the gaze that Mario was shooting at him, filled with a certain rage that Bowser had never seen on his expression before.

"Guys, help Toad…" he began slowly, now fully facing Bowser and stalking toward him. "I'll take care of this guy…"

Moments later, Yoshi and Luigi were tugging on Toad as Wario and DK were wrestling with the Piranha Plants. Mario, meanwhile, was still marching toward Bowser and he wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. Bowser was feeling a bit apprehensive at this point, stuffing his newly acquired coins into his shell as he slowly backed away from the approaching plumber.

"C-Calm down, Mario…everyone can take a joke, right? It was just a harmless prank!"

"Yeah, harmless," Mario scoffed, raising a hand against him. "Just like _this_ is going to be."

Bowser didn't allow him the chance to attack-he simply leaned forward and heaved out a torrent of flames, hoping that it would get Mario to back off. However, Mario brought his hand back down, absorbed the flames and swirled them around his wrist, eventually conjuring up a rather impressive fireball. Bowser was aghast.

"WHAAAT? ! GAME BREAKER!" he screamed, before having his very own attack blasted back at him. He was flung into the nearest wall, cracking it with the force of his shell slamming against it. Bowser groaned slumped downwards, exposing his ever so vulnerable tail.

Hardly taking the chance to think, Mario grabbed his tail and began to spin him around.

Meanwhile, Luigi and Yoshi had just freed Toad, falling on the ground in an exhausted huff with Wario and DK uprooting the three Piranha Plants and tossing them off to the sides. They joined the others, only for all five of them to witness a screaming Bowser careen through the air, followed by tumbling dramatically out the conveniently open window.

"Darn it, Mario! I WILL be back! …it'll be sometime next week, but I'll be ba- YOWCH! Since when does she have a rose bush? ! THE THORNS!"

The quintet just looked on as Mario stood off to the side, hanging his shoulders and looking unquestionably hopeless. He let out the most depressing sigh known to man and put a hand to his forehead.

"I'm all warmed up for an 'in your face' dance…but something tells me I'll get slapped if I try it," Wario stated with disappointment.

"At least you can say you tried, Mario," Luigi said honestly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Maybe she'll be so impressed by the fact you threw the king of all Koopas out a two story window that she'll forget about the cake!" suggested Toad.

"On her birthday?" Yoshi questioned with disbelief. Toad simply shrugged.

"It's worth a try!"

"Thanks guys," Mario moaned, turning heel and stalking back toward the dining room. "But I'm just going to have to face the music…even if the music is loud, earsplitting, and heart breaking."

"She's gonna be back any minute," Toad realized, walking toward the door as well. "We might as well be in the dining room to greet her…"

"I hope we don't have to scrape Mario off the walls when Peach explodes at him," Wario stated airily, waddling after Toad. Yoshi looked horrified as he and DK tagged afterward. Luigi started to follow too, until he caught sight of the cookbook again. Stopping in his tracks and glancing around shiftily, he picked up the book and skimmed the pages once again.

"It wouldn't hurt to pick up a few new recipes," he told himself, eventually coming to a picture that made his hair stand on end.

It was a cake, with pink frosting, white icing. Designed to be a birthday cake. Flavor? Strawberry.

"This is the cake that Peach originally made…" he realized, continuing to stare at the picture. His gaze went from the picture to the door, and back again, and he finally decided on what he should do.

. . .

"Hey Mario! I'm back!" Peach exclaimed sometime later, pushing the door to her dining room open. Her arms were full with three bags…and downstairs were a mountain of birthday cards. However, Peach planned on sorting through them after she completed her cake.

So when she walked in on a completely dark room, she was a bit taken aback.

"Um, Mario…?"

Suddenly, a Star pierced through the dark, brightening a small area with its glow. Peach could easily see that Toad had produced it, but she didn't have the chance to ask him about it, because it shot straight into the air and shone even brighter, followed by lowering down and causing eleven candles to burn with flames.

The Star then disappeared, being replaced by the luminescent sight of Luigi, Yoshi, DK, Toad, and Wario standing behind Mario, who held Peach's finished birthday cake in his hand, complete with the candles, all six figurines, and looking as if it hadn't been touched to begin with.

"Happy birthday, Princess Peach!" they all exclaimed, but no one meant it more so than Mario. Peach was flooded with joy, dropping everything and skipping over to the group. She took the cake from Mario and simply gasped in delight.

"Oh, _you guys!_ You finished my cake and threw me a party and _everything!"_

"Of course!" Yoshi exclaimed, looking smug.

"Actually, about the cake-" Wario began devilishly, only to be abruptly cut off by DK's massive elbow being jabbed in his side. While Wario was writhing in pain, Mario trotted up to Peach and gestured to the cake.

"Well? Blow out the candles and make a wish!"

"I don't see why," Peach stated with a teasing grin as the eleven candles were promptly blown out. "I've already got my wish! ...a birthday that's the best it could be!"

"That's just grand," huffed Wario, still recovering from the blow. "So can we eat the cake now?"

Peach giggled and placed the cake on the table. "Of course! After one last little thing…"

She huddled the group altogether, giving them the biggest hug she could manage. Wario and DK squirmed out of it after a while and made a beeline for the cake, followed by Yoshi and Toad. Thus, the ones to receive the longest hug were Mario and Luigi. Peach then pulled back and grinned at Mario.

"Thanks for taking care of my cake, and throwing me this party…in fact, thank you for everything you've done for me."

She leaned down and gave Mario a quick peck on the nose before giggling and scurrying over to the cake where Wario and Yoshi had already been whipped up into an argument. Mario, blushing and rubbing the back of his head, turned to Luigi, who was nonchalantly turned away with his arms folded.

"I owe you one, Bro. You really saved me there."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just amazed that she hugged me for as long as she did!" Luigi then simpered in Mario's direction and drummed his fingers against the side of his arm. "In fact, this also means you've gotten away with murder once again…or in this case, the murder of a cake."

"Of all the things I've gotten away with, this really takes the cake!" Mario chuckled, causing Luigi to hang his head in embarrassment. "But in all seriousness, I'm still not perfect."

"Whatever Bro…"

The duo then walked over to the table once the commotion was all clear, snagged slices of cake for themselves, and dispersed through the dining room. Yoshi was begging to open presents after he devoured his slice in one bite, Wario and DK were eating their pieces like animals, and Toad was using extra care to savor each and every bite. Mario then caught sight of Peach eating her first bite and hurried over to catch her initial reaction.

Peach's pupils shrunk as she stopped chewing on the spot.

"Whoa…"

Mario suddenly blanched. "What's wrong, Peach?"

"Nothing, nothing!" she exclaimed hastily with the bite of cake bulging in her cheek. "It's just…this cake! It tastes way better than anything I could ever make! Whatever you guys did to finish it tops anything I could ever whip up! This is amazing!"

Mario relaxed and smiled, sampling the cake as well. "Well, maybe there is someone out there who can make better birthday cakes than you."

"I'll eat to that," Luigi stated with a satisfied smirk, leaning against the wall and taking a huge bite out of his birthday cake.

In more ways than one.

* * *

**Whaaat? Two MPT chapters in a ROW? Yup. Wanted to get a head start on Act 2. Now no one can pester me for awhile. ;P**


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